Zombiestuck
by Calallini
Summary: The characters of Homestuck race to get to Jade's island, the only safe haven left on Earth. Zombies are based off of the Left 4 Dead Special Infected. Pairing mainly revolves around Gamzee/Nepeta MUCH LATER in the story. Other pairs are subtle.
1. Chapter 1

**== Be John Egbert**

You're name is John Egbert. And currently, you have never been more terrified in your entire life time. Although you haven't been alive very long, you are only 13 years old. Never-the-less this fact does not prevent you from almost shitting yourself every time you hear something. You lurk quietly, both concealed by the ebony of night and also blind in it's grip.

You are stalking through a city in the middle of the night. Under normal circumstances, your dad would be furious at you for not telling him why you are doing this. But you are under no normal circumstances. In fact, the very idea of normal seems silly and far-fetched now. You are stalking through a city in the middle of night because you are trying not to be eaten.

Trying not to be eaten by the undead that is. Oh yes, the undead. They started rising from their graves and lumbering around dripping acid or spewing blood about 2 weeks ago. At least you think it was 2 weeks ago, it has been so hard to tell without a calender recently. From the last new cast you saw you think you know how the dead came back to the living.

According to the last reporter the outbreak began in a remote camping site somewhere in Oregon. Some idiot was dumping hazardous chemicals into a lake; unfortunately, the resident wildlife drank from the pond and became undead flesh craving animals. They bit campers, the campers bit rangers, the rangers bit other people, and eventually the virus had spread across the globe ravaging every place possibly conceivable. Well, except for 2 places. 2 places that you know of.

Rose's large home was surrounded by a huge forest, little zombies made it through the entire forest without being eaten by undead animals. That was the only problem though, according to Rose's last memo, the animals were getting smarter and were attacking more and more often.

Jade's home was possibly the least infected place on the planet. Such a remote island had little chance of getting infected, and according to Jade's last memo, she hadn't seen one zombie. Neither animal nor human. She still kept her rifle handy though.

That was the 'safe house' everyone was headed to. By everyone, you mean your best friends Dave and Rose, and all of the trolls. When the game ended, you all expected to be sent back to your native planet. Hopefully fully restored planet. Well, the trolls were sent to Earth along with you. You're not sure why yet, but you're certain you'll find out eventually. Earth was more or less restored completely. You woke up in your old neighbourhood. But the best part? Your dad was there. He was alive and you smiled and ran into his arms like in one of your favourite movies and recalling that memory makes you smile. Wait, stop that! There's no time for you to reminisce anymore. You had been separated from your dad a week after everything went to hell. But you know he's alive. He must have found an old computer, and has been sending you messages through pesterchum ever since.

A troll named Sollux has kept pesterchum running. You're sure it's no easy job, but he does it damn well and everyone is thankful. That brings up another subject, the trolls. They're headed to Jade's island, too. There has to be at least one boat left that can take you all to Jade's home. According to her, there will be no reason to leave once you're there. She has a plentiful garden and even if you have to be a vegetarian the rest of your life you don't really mind because you have seen enough red flesh to last you 10 decades.

You are slowly crossing the city, and being careful not to draw any kind of attention to yourself. You are already so covered with the blood of others you think it's hiding your scent. Not one zombie has tried to eat you. Yet. You think it's creepy that you haven't seen one. Where are all of them? You're in a city, there has to be ONE zombie out here! Not that you're complaining, you only have so many bullets left and even then the noise would surely bring an avalanche of the undead.

Still, the city is in complete disarray. There are cars on the sidewalks, bodies are scattered in every place conceivable, and there is blood splattered everywhere. Windows are boarded up, all the doors were painted with such optimistic sayings such as "STAY OUT" "YOU'RE AREN'T WELCOME" or your personal 'favourite', "WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE" You think the last one was written in blood. Of course you had only seen that during the day, now that you're farther into the core of the city you suspect things are much much worse.

You cautiously peer into the window of an old apartment, it's so dark it's hard to see, but you don't think anything is in there. Cautiously, you soundlessly open the door and peer inside. No one is there. You barricade the doors and take your laptop out of your captchalogue. You look to see if anyone is online. _gardenGnostic,_ _apocalypseArisen, arachnidsGrip, twinArmageddons, and cuttlefishCuller _ are online. You haven't really talked to AA or CC but you sure are happy Vriska is online! You quickly pester her

**ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering arachnidsGrip [AG]**

**EB:** hey vriska!

**EB:** how are you doing?

**EB:** against the zombies i mean.

**AG:** Jooooooooohn! My favourite human ;;;;)

**AG:** I'm doing awesome of course! If I wasn't, how would I 8e talking to you right now? ::::O

**EB:** hahahahaha :)

**EB**: good point, and i'm glad you're doing great!

**EB:** but how far away are you from jade's island?

**AG:** Hmmmmmmm, I'm not sure! I'll ask Sollux if he can pinpoint my location.

**EB:** sollux is the one running pesterchum, right?

**AG**: Duuuuuuuuh! He said I'm about 413 miles away. Is that a lot 8y a human standpoint?

**EB:** ummmmmmmmm

**EB:** yes, but it's definitely not as far away as some of the others.

**EB:** and I think you're moving faster than me anyway!

**AG:** I know I'm moving faster than you! I have all of the luck, that's why. All of it

**EB: **actually you have fancy wings you can fly around with.

**EB:** which is why you're moving so fast.

**AG:** Well jeez John, don't flatter me!

**AG: **And anyway, I thought your powers were 8ased on flight?

**AG: **How come you keep complaining a8out not 8eing a8le to fly?

**EB: **oh, i thought i had explained this to you for some reason.

**EB:** i think when the game ended, our powers were reduced. didn't you say something about not being as lucky?

**AG: **Oh pleeeeeeeease I'm just as powerful as ever! There must 8e something wrong with you. Were you 8itten 8y the zom8ies John? Did they gorge on your scrawny flesh and now you're talking to me through the grave?

**EB: **first, ew.

**EB: **second, also ew.

**EB: **are you sure? i swore you told me you'd been having troubles with your powers.

**EB: **be honest, this is serious stuff!

**AG: **All right fiiiiiiiine. 8ut I'm only telling you 8ecause you're not as terri8le as my other friends.

**AG: **I haven't 8een nearly as powerful as I was in Sgru8.

**AG: **8eing transported to your world fucked up my a8ilities.

**AG: **May8e now that the game has ended, we don't have any use for god-tiers.

**AG: **And our powers will just fade away.

**EB: **i sure hope that doesn't happen.

**EB:** i liked being the heir of breathe!

**EB:** controlling the wind was great, and i could help all our friends so much easier if I wasn't having so much trouble!

**AG: **You keep all the past-tense 8ullshit, can you tell me what exactly happened to you?

**EB: **i can't control the wind the way i used to!

**EB:** I can't fly, or create hurricanes.

**AG: **I don't know what to tell you John! I'm just as useless as you are, you're going to have to 8e a man and confront your pro8lems.

**AG: **Flying is important to you I 8et, especially now. 8ut the rest of our team is perfectly capa8le of surviving without 8eing god-tier.

**EB: **that doesn't help the fact that it sucks.

**AG: **::::(

**EB: **:(

**AG: **Try using your powers more often, 8ecause complaining a8out it won't solve anything. I haven't whined once, think of it as loosing the use of your legs and learning to live life without them!

**EB:** that metaphor was eerily disconcerting.

**AG: **;;;;)

**EB: **i'll take your advice, but i still wish i could fly for more than 10 minutes at a time!

**AG: **Wishing won't get you anywhere, you need to take a stand and fight to the death for what you want!

**AG:** Truuuuuuuuust me.

**EB:** with that number of u's i don't think i can!

**EB:** nine u's, what happened to the vriska i know and love?

**AG: **Oh my god it was just a mist8ke.

**EB: **or was it? are you a zombie vriska?

**AG: **I'm leaving now.

**EB: **hehehe, okay.

**EB: **be careful out there!

**AG: **Pffffffff like I need to 8e careful.

**AG: **It's you who needs to 8e extra cautious. You don't need to 8e worried about me at allllllll.

**AG: **Try not to get yourself killed!

**EB: **hehe i won't :)

** ectobiologist [EB] ceased pestering arachnidsGrip [AG]**

You worry about her regardless of what she says. You get up to open the door and get going, but you are so tired. So very, very tired. Your eyelids droop and you realize how comfortable the shredded couch you were sitting in was. NO! Get a hold of yourself! If you fall asleep now, you'll wake to a breakfast buffet. And you'll be the all-you-can-eat special at half-price.

You get up groggily, and open the door. You don't even bother to close it behind you, as you walk down the deserted street.


	2. Chapter 2

**== Be Vriska Serket**

Not right now idiot can't you see I'm 8usy?

You can't possibly be Vriska Serket right now are you insane, can you not see she is trying not to be bifurcated.

**== Try to be Vriska Serket anyway**

I said get the hell out!

Perhaps another time then.

**== Be one of the other trolls online**

**== Be Aradia Megido**

You are now Aradia Megido. You are okay with this. What's that? Are you dead? No of course not silly! You love being alive. You are very much alive and intend to stay that way. The zombie apocalypse on Earth has not been to bothersome to you, as you can fly it is very hard for zombies to get to you.

But recently it has become quite problematic, and your friends insist that you retreat to a remote island hosted by a human named Jade. You hadn't talked to Jade much in the game, one of you was always too busy at the time. You are stationed on a large tower in a suburban town. It was probably once used to broadcast radio waves to the town, but now it stands looking empty and out of place. You pull out a laptop you sto- excuse you, borrowed from a human. Of course you will give it back. Unless he is dead.

You pull your laptop out and troll Jade.

ApocalypseArisen [AA] began trolling gardenGnostic [GG]

AA: hello jade

AA: are you there?

GG: hi aradia! :)

GG: i'm so happy to hear from you!

GG: i haven't heard from anyone in awhile, I was starting to get worried :(

AA: im sorry im not sure what the others are up to!

AA: but i do know that dave is doing very well

GG: he is? :D

AA: yes i talked to him not too long ago and he said everything was 'smooth as a babys ass'

GG: hahahaha that's dave all right! :)

AA: im curious as to how you and your lusus are doing though!

AA: sorry i mean grandfather

AA: im still trying to get used to human terms :)

GG: you're doing fine!

GG: i'm doing great, and so is grandpa

GG: do you know when anyone is going to get here though? :(

AA: im not sure

AA: i believe that john and a few others are very close though

GG: others?

GG: like who?

AA: a few trolls you may or may not have heard of

AA: sollux

AA: gamzee

AA: nepeta

AA: and one you may want to avoid called eridan

GG: i've heard of them!

GG: wasn't eridan just really creepy?

GG: why should i avoid him?

AA: well yes

AA: but he also went on a murderous rampage when feferi rejected him

AA: and also be wary of gamzee

AA: from our recent conversations he seems fine and very sorry for what he did

AA: but just as a warning

GG: oh that's right :(

GG: karkat told me what happened

AA: it is unfortunate that two of our most violent companions are the closest, but sollux is very close as well and he can help if anything umm

AA: undesirable happens :|

GG: well, thanks for the friendly warning aradia!

AA: youre very welcome :D

AA: if you dont mind the abrupt end of our conversation i can hear some of the undead gathering around :(

GG: oh!

GG: get going then!

GG: good luck aradia 3

AA: you too jade :)

apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased trolling gardenGnostic [GG]

You quickly pack your things and fly off, the undead are impatient when they sense fresh meat so near.

**== Be Vriska. . .Serket?**

**== Be Vriska Serket**

You are now Vriska Serket. And you are PISSED OFF. I mean seriously, where did all of those zombies even COME FROM? Luckily, you had the power of luck, and your precious dice on hand. Those zombies didn't stand a chance! But they got your nice god-tier pajamas all covered in guts. Bluh! What a mess. Kanaya is good with clothes, you'll have her wash them. But right now, you need to focus on getting to that girl's island.  
>And, ooooooookay you MIGHT have lied a little to John about how you were doing against the zombies. You are doing great, but you're exhausted! And you don't know when you are going to get some sleep.<p>

You close your eyes and you muscles slacken. . . .NO! WAKE UP! You pinch your cheeks so the pain keeps you awake. You look blearily out of the small dank cave you a sitting in.

You, Vriska Serket, once a god of Sgrub, are now sitting in a cave trying not to gag at the smell of your own clothes. How pathetic, you think and fiddle with your hair. Wait, what's this? Who's this douchebag trolling you?

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG]

CC: )(i Vriska! 38D

CC: Glub glub glub glub

AG: Ugh. What are you so excited a8out this time?

CC: I'm just )(appy you're alive!

AG: Yeah, I'm alive, sitting in a cave, covered in guts!

CC: E-www that sounds nasty! 38(

AG: It is pretty fucking awful.

AG: Now seriously, what do you want?

CC: I just wanted to make s)(ore you're okay!

CC: I have been trying to get a )(old of everyone online t)(at I can, every life is precious!

AG: In that case, I am sooooooo glad you're okay, too! Maybe we can smile and ooze sunshine and happiness at each other next time I'm in the neighbourhood.

AG: Oh.

AG: Unless were not dead 8y then.

CC: 38(

CC: Sometimes you are just so, SO, RUD-E!

AG: Get used to it ::::)  
>cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling arachnidsGrip [AG]<p>

Okay, maybe that was a little harsh. But you really don't have time for bobble-heads like her! You swear she sheds friendship all over the place, like dandruff. You go offline, and collect your things. Luckily, you have kept your god-tier status and with that you can fly. You get up and soar towards Jade's hive.

Yeah I haven't actually written a formal "Author's Introduction" for this yet. So, maybe I'll just do it here at the bottom of chapter 2. In truth, Zombiestuck is an AU I've been working on for some months. Filled with tragedies of 13 year olds impaling each other with mental verbal nonsense, gory injuries, and zombies galore! I didn't even expect to post this, so the AU mainly revolves around my two favourite characters, Gamzee and Nepeta. It's just a silly little crack pairing me and friend have come to love. For the majority of you reading this, you'll probably ship other characters. In that case, you have a good 10-30 chapters before anything related to the two happens.

On the subject of chapters, I've written 59 pages already. So for awhile there will be 1 new chapter or more per day. Then gradually fewer updates, and so on. I really appreciate anyone who reads/reviews this, the only reason I posted this was because I was peer-pressured in a livestream! I suppose I'll write one of these little blurbs per say every chapter update, simply to answer any reviews, maybe give you previews of upcoming ships.

**And if you're too lazy to figure the plot out by yourself, I'll summarize here:** The characters are all spread across the United States, they're all separated and communicate through pesterchum, which Sollux has kept running. The main goal is to get a boat, have Sollux jump-start it via satellite, and sail to Jade's island, the only zombie-free place on the planet that they know of. Of course it takes time to do such things, and shenanigans occur in the timeline.


	3. Chapter 3

**== Be Feferi Peixes**

Okay, but only for a little bit! You're very angry at a certain )(aug)(ty troll at the moment. Currently you are located at a pristine little ravine next to a mountain. Very remote, and very little zombies have headed your way. There is plenty of water too! This makes you very excited and happy! Then again, a lot of things do. You just wish you could make your friend happy. But she is so hard to please. The only happiness she feels is when she's hurting someone else, and that's so awful! You couldn't possibly think of hurting one of your friends. They are so dear to you. Well, with the exception of one maybe. . . But hopefully he's changed! You will forgive him if he simply apologizes. But with him nothing is simple.

You sidle over to the edge of the ravine, and jump in. The water is not fast enough to harm you but it also pulls you quickly in the direction you need to be going. You only hope you can get there soon enough.

**== Be one of the trolls closest to Jade**

**== Be Sollux Captor**

You are now Sollux Captor and you're very stressed right now. Running an application that was created by an entire different species is very difficult. Of course the undead are a big inconvenience. You're usually a very good multi-tasker, but trying to make sure pesterchum and trollian haven't crashed and avoid being torn limb from limb and eaten alive at the same time is another story.

You have holed up under an old human water treatment plant. There are many tunnels underneath the plant so that excess water can drain. So you're soaked down to the bone, but at least there are no zombies down here. Well. There is that one zombie that got down there. It seems smarter than the average zombie, and looks different, too. There are large bulbous growths on the zombie's right side, you're not entirely sure if it can even see out of it's right eye anymore. The thing has this huge, disgusting, slimy tongue that it has tried to strangle you with more than once. And you know you've chopped that thing off at least 2 times, which means it can grow the horrid appendage back.

It's no hassle trying to find the thing, it makes these coughing and hacking noises that echo all over the tunnels. You don't have many means to kill the thing, just a small pistol you found loaded with 6 bullets. You're optic blast would be sufficient, but if you do that, the tunnels could accidentally collapse. It's only a matter of time before one kills the other.

Oh look, one of the people you actually like is online.

twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling apocalypseArisen [AA]

TA: hey, AA.

TA: ii know thii2 ii2 a pretty vague que2tiion, but how are you doiing?

AA: hi sollux

AA: its not very vague it just has a lot of potential

Answers :)

AA: im doing well in general!

AA: though im rather tired as of lately :(

TA: yeah well that make2 two of u2.

AA: how well is pesterchum holding up

AA: and trollian

TA: pe2terchum ii2 a colo22al paiin in the a22

TA: but ii have had no diiffiicultiie2 wiith trolliian.

TA: iit2 liike iit2 runniing iit2elf

TA: whiich make2 no 2en2e but iim not goiing two complaiin.

AA: well thats good

AA: and its very nice of you to help the kids out so much :)

TA: whatever

TA: they better be kii22iing my 2hoe2 and groveliing when we all meet up.

TA: 2peakiing of whiich you're gettiing a lot clo2er to jade2 hiive.

TA: ju2t how long have you been flyiing?

AA: a few hours give or take

AA: perhaps more

TA: you 2hould take a break 2oon

TA: diidnt you 2ay you're exhau2ted anyway?

AA: a nap sounds really nice

AA: but falling asleep is dangerous and it could take me a long time to find a secure resting place

AA: and without any sopor the chances of me actually falling asleep are slim :(

TA: iit wa2 ju2t a 2ugge2tiion.

TA: iit2 better than collap2iing day2 later from fatiigue, and returniing a2 a miindle22 fle2h eatiing corp2e

AA: um

AA: on second thought ill go look for a nice pile of something to doze on

TA: good plan.

TA: oh and waiit

TA: have you 2een any zombiie2 that look. . .

TA: odd?

AA: odd

AA: what do you mean by odd?

TA: ju2t

TA: diifferent.

TA: or any of them that act 2marter

TA: or have long tongue2.

AA: long tongues

AA: you seem to be implying something

TA: you could 2ay that.

AA: ive only seen one zombie that seemed different in any way

AA: it had a very very long neck and a bright green substance dripping from its mouth

AA: if it even had a mouth left :(

AA: it was more clever than the other zombies

AA: it seemed like it could think

AA: at least at a low level of intelligence

TA: hmmm.

TA: maybe

TA: maybe the viiru2 ha2 diiffiirent effect2 on diiffiirent type2 of human2.

TA: iit2 ju2t a theory.

TA: but feferii had de2criibed another zombiie actiing 2marter two.

TA: and iit looked peculiiar.

AA: sounds plausible

AA: should i ask anyone else if theyve seen anything strange

TA: yeah, and let me know iif anyone ha2 2een actually 2een anythiing weiird.

AA: i will

AA: and sollux

TA: what?

AA: im really glad youre okay :)

apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

You're not really sure what to think of that. But you're happy. You haven't been happy for a very very long time. A half smile forms on your face and it feels good.

***COUGH***

Wait. What was that noise? Was that a cough? God dammit. Not again. The smiles disappears and is instead replaced by a grimace. You know the sound of that coughing and hacking by heart.

***COUGH***

Yep, you're sure you hear coughing now. That stupid zombie is back again. You arm yourself with the pistol and psychic energy builds up in your eyes. You silently close your laptop and tip-toe around the corner of the circular tunnel entrance. Nothing there. You tip-toe to the other side. Nothing there. That's odd you're sure you hea- something slimy is wrapped around your leg. You look down, but you already know what it is. The thing has it's tongue wrapped around your left leg.

In that instant you register that fact, the tongue contracts and your flung backwards. The zombie wraps its tongue around your neck and the pungent smell of death crams itself down your lungs. You gasp for air but it keeps tightening its grip until nothing gets into your lungs. You claw at its arms but nothing seems to be perturbing it. You claw at it's eyes, and it kicks you hard in the side. But before it can counterattack you manage to reach the pistol and wrap your finger around the trigger. You send a hard bullet through its skull.

It collapses and you're safe. But you still can't breathe properly. There is a stabbing pain in your side. You feebly drag yourself to your laptop and the pain is so great you can't do anything else but just lie there and count the cracks in the ceiling.

You look at your left side where the zombie nailed you, and try locating your rib cage. You find two ribs up much higher than they should be. Great. Just perfect. You ribs are dislocated. You swear vilely, and sink into unconsciousness.

Just going to answer some reviews!

Anonymous Thank you! UuU

watchmeexplode33 Thanks! I worked very hard on trying to keep them in character

doryfish Thank you, and that's a good question, but to be honest that's just one of the holes in the story. John is still able to fly, but when I first started writing the story it was just going to be a Left 4 Dead Crossover, and therefore I though it would tie into the video game better if he was 'trapped' in city apartments like the survivors. So to answer your question, he is able to fly, but only later on in the story which I haven't gotten to writing yet


	4. Chapter 4

**== Be another one of the trolls closest to Jade**

**== Be Gamzee Makara**

You are now Gamzee Makara. And everything is all up and out of whack right now. Some of the undead are currently trying to tear the flesh off of your lower right calf, and if you don't run faster they'll succeed. According to Sollux, you're in a city that has a port full of boats that can take you to Jade's hive. That's a pretty intense miracle all up in its own. But unfortunately for you, you accidentally stepped on one of your horns while crossing the city. You don't even remember having any left, or dropping one for that matter, but the noise was loud enough to draw about 20 or so zombies. And with the more noise they make the more of them are drawn.

You're running away from about 40 of them when you see a sign that says "Sunny California Boat Harbor" That must be the place Sollux was talking about. You use the rest of your energy and put as much distance between you and the zombies as possible, and climb over the fence. You made it! The zombies seem to be unable to climb over the fence.

They groan and shriek at the sight of their lost meal. You find a very nice looking boat, it's fairly large, and would be the human equivalent to a small yacht. The only problem is that you have no idea how to steer it. Sollux said as long as you pick a boat that has some sort of a connection to a satellite he can program the ship to take you there.

Just as you are about to climb on board a terrible creaking noise jolts you. You look back and blink in surprise.

A very, very, large group of zombies has formed, and they are simultaneously pushing against the fence. The old fence was already rusting from age and it wouldn't hold much larger. You scramble onto the boat right when the zombies break the fence, and come racing at you. You don't know if they can climb ladders so you open one of the doors into the boat and barricade an old table behind you.

You stand in an old boat casino, with little light streaming in. With the undead so close and being in almost complete darkness you shake as you open your laptop. You contact Sollux so that he can steer the boat.

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

TC: HeY sOlbRo, NoT tO mOtHeRfUcKiNg WoRrY yOu AnD aLl BuT sTeEriNg ThIs ShIp OuT oF hErE aS fAsT aS yOu CaN wOuLd Be GrEaT.

TC: sOlLuX?

TC: ArE yOu ThErE?

TC: :o(

You start worrying, you can hear that the zombies have figured out a way to get on the ship. And it's only a matter of time before they find what room your in.

TC: hEy BrOtHeR, i'M kIndA MoTheRfUcKiNg TrApPeD aNd I rEaLlY nEeD yOu To GeT mE oUt oF hErE.

You fidget and wait for him to reply. Nothing comes up. You hear footsteps outside the door.

TC: SoLlUx CoMe On PlEaSe HeLp :'o(

TC: i DoN't HaVe MuCh TiMe Le

That's all you can type before zombies start pounding on the door of the casino. You pack your laptop and run for the other door. You pull your deuce clubs out, which is a good move because as soon as you open the door a zombie is there to greet you. You smash it's legs out from under it, and run as fast you can. A big bright "EXIT" sign catches your eye and you run toward it. You open the door.

You're standing on the top of the deck, and you quickly realize you heavily misjudged how many zombies were on board. There's easily 50 or 60 of them, and it's possible that there are more coming. You run back into the boat and lock the door. You run back down the hall and look around, there has to be a better weapon somewhere. You open a door to a room you hadn't noticed before. It's the captain's room, and the captain is still here. Well his body is. You walk over and prod him with your club. No reaction. Maybe he wasn't infected when he died. You lift his arm up with your club, and there on his lap is a rifle! You warily grab the gun from his lap and check to see it's loaded. It is, and there are several packs of ammunition scattered around the captain's feet. You put them in your pocket, putting them in your captchalogue would take too long.

You go to grab the last pack and a groan freezes you in your tracks. The captain is moving. And he's hungry. You're so close to him that all he'd have to do was lean over to bite you. You look at your arm. You're only wearing a T-Shirt and the flesh on your arm is completely exposed. The captain notes this at once and lunges. You deflect his mouth away with your club in the nick of time and run to the door. You open it and shut it quickly.

You sling the gun around your arm and practice taking aim. The zombies would be here soon. BAM! Almost as soon as you aim the first zombie comes around the corner. One bullet, one zombie down. You shoot the next few rounds of zombies. 12 bullets left. You'll need to reload soon. More zombies fall. You lock yourself in an old guest room and reload. You keep shooting, the smell makes you nauseous and you won't be able to keep shooting coherently much longer, and staying in a room with so much of the infected is very risky. You make your way out to the deck and gasp for fresh air. You waste little time and go back to shooting the zombies. It's harder to shoot them from up at the top of the deck but there are so many it's hard to miss.

Finally, you think all of the zombies are down. But the noise will attract more. You climb onto the very top of the yacht's roof and wait. You pull out your laptop. Someone has messaged you.

**== Be the one that messaged Gamzee**

You're now Sollux, and you really hope Gamzee isn't dead. Yeah, he'd probably deserve it after what he did but you still don't want to be responsible for anyone's death. You tried messaging him but you could hardly move to type. Even now it's hard to be sitting up and typing.

twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling terminallyCapricious

TA: gamz you there?

TA: iim 2orry

TA: ii thiink my riib2 are di2located, ii couldnt move two

help

TA: plea2e dont be dead

TA: or iinfected

TC: I'm HeRe

TC: i'M aLl Up AnD sOrRy aBoUt YoUr RiBs bRo

TC: AnD I DoN't BlAmE yOu AbOuT iT

TA: thank god

TA: 2o you're not iinfected eiither?

TC: dOn'T tHiNk So, I hAvEn'T rEaLlY HaD mUcH mOtHeRfUcKiNg TiMe To ChEcK iF i'Ve BeEn BiTtEn ThOuGh.

TA: ii thiink you'd know iif you'd been biiten by now

TA: and anyway, where are you now?

TA: are you on a boat that has a connectiion?

TC: I'm PrEtTy SuRe, ThE bOaT aLl Up AnD hAd A bUnCh Of CoMpUtErS aNd ShIt In ThE cApTaIn'S rOoM

TA: great, iill connect you now.

TA: kay, ii have a lock

TA: the boat ii2 goiing two lurch 2o brace your2elf

TC: oKaY.

terminallyCapricious ceased trolling twinArmageddons

**== Be Gamzee Makara again**

You look around the roof and wrap your arm around a pole on the side of the boat. The boat gives a mighty heave and your teeth rattle. The rattling subsides and the boat is moving away from the peer. You can just see the undead beginning to cluster on the dock, their mouths open, gaping wide for flesh. You shudder at the thought of narrowly avoiding that fate and look at the sea racing by instead.

* * *

><p>Anonymous ~*.lol txt it. best zombiez 5evar*~<p>

Shadowcyrse :(


	5. Chapter 5

**== Be yet another troll close to Jade**

**== Be Eridan Ampora**

You're now Eridan Ampora. And you're fuckin' AWWESOME. You're in the midst of a zombie apocalypse and there's not a scratch on you. And it's not like it's because you were lucky and ended up nearest to Jade, nope, it was just pure bravery and fighting skills that got you this far.

I mean really, everyone knows that a seaddweller has a much better chance in surviving any type of survival scenario than a landdweller. That's just how it always has been and always will be, sea is better than land. Which is why you don't even need a boat to get to this island. You're just going to swim the whole way. Even if Sol warned you about getting lost. Please, like you would ever get lost.

Right now, you're stationed at an old run-down pier. There are a few rotting fishing boats lying scattered around, but nothing that could support the trip to Jade's house. The pier hasn't decomposed all the way so you can still walk on it. You walk to the end and imagine what's lurking in the thick fog.

According to Sollux, as soon as you find the ocean to message him and he can give you rudimentary directions to you'll end up at Jade's. You won't even need to worry about zombies, it's not like they can swim. You climb in the lake, and water is rigid with cold, but this doesn't bother you much. Seadwellers are accustomed to a variety of water temperatures. You get out of the water, and go online to troll sollux.

caligulasAquarium [CA] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

CA: hey sol

CA: can you hurry up and givve me some directions already

TA: have you lii2tened two anythiing ii've 2aiid lately

TA: liike, anythiing at all.

CA: wwhat do you mean

TA: iif you ju2t 2wiim the whole fuckiing way you'll get lo2t, no amount of diirectiions could po22ibly change that.

CA: but i remember you said you wwould givve me directions

TA: what?

TA: no, eriidan.

TA: ii never 2aiid that

TA: ii saiid, eriidan ii won't giive you diirectiion2, becau2e you'll get lo2t.

TA: thii2 ju2t prove2 how you don't lii2ten two me.

CA: whatever

CA: i dont listen to landwwellers anyway

TA: god you're an a22hole.

TA: let me reprha2e thii2 2o you'll get iit through your thiick 2kull.

TA: iif you don't fiind a boat

TA: you wiill get lo2t and 2lowly and agonizingly 2tarve two death.

TA: get iit?

CA: um

CA: got it

TA: good.

TA: now go fiind a boat.

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

You think that went better than last time you two talked. You ponder if you had seen any boats nearby. You remember there was one by an old dock you had seen. There was a small radar system on it, so you're pretty sure Sollux should be able to rig it up. You walk down the pier, careful to be quiet. You're comrades have mentioned that noise attracts zombies. You gaze at an old town map through the thick fog. The dock you're looking for is a short walk away. You wonder if the lake connects to the ocean somehow.

You arrive at what you think is the dock. Your eyesight hasn't been the best, and it's just getting harder to see with the current weather. You stick your arm out in front of you, your hand disappears in the mist. A grim realization hits you, there could be a zombie right in front of you and you wouldn't even know it. Now paranoid, you take our your rifle and narrow your eyes. As if that would help. You can't even aim.

You inspect a sign by the dock, "Beautiful Clear Washington Dock". Beautiful and clear. Is that their idea of a joke. You walk down the boardwalk and try to find a boat. There are only 4 boats left, one of them has a dead body in it so you passed. The other two are very small and don't look like they could get to Jade's. The last one is very big, and stream-lined for speed. You get on board and check the fuel tank. You need to make sure there's enough to keep you going all the way to Jade's. The gauge is almost full, and you deduce that should be enough to get you there.

You pull out your laptop and troll Sollux.

caligulasAquarium [CA] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

CA: hey sol

CA: i found a fuckin boat

CA: but i still think i coulda swwam the wwhole wwavve

TA: 2top overe2tiimatiing your2elf, iit get2 annoyiing really fa2t.

TA: and ocean pun2, really?

CA: wwell sorry but fef thinks theyre funny

CA: anywway can you program this ship to leavve

CA: this place givves me the creeps

CA: i can hardly see anythin

TA: yeah yeah iim on iit.

TA: waiit, what do you mean you can't 2ee anythiing?

TA: diid you loo2e your gla22e2?

CA: no its just really foggy here

CA: im surprised zombies havvent jumped out a nowwhere and started eatin me yet

TA: that'2 unnerviing, or maybe zombiie2 ju2t dont liike the ta2te of fii2h.

CA: hey maybe your onto something

TA: ii wa2 joking

TA: ii have the boat all ready two go, hold onto 2omethiing so you dont go flyiing off the edge.

CA: im on it

CaligulasAquarium [CA] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

You sit down on a tattered seat, and strap yourself in with some kind of buckle. The silence and suspense is almost deafening. Suddenly, the boat lurches and you're thrown forward. You were right to buckle yourself in, you would have flown forward and crashed through a glass barrier in the front of the boat. And who knows what things live in Earth's oceans?

The boat moves at a surprisingly fast speed and the wind whips your styled hair into a mess. You hold onto your glasses, scared that they will fly right off your face if you don't. You appear to be racing down a narrow channel that empties off into the ocean. The channel gets narrower and narrower and if it doesn't get wider soon you'll be trapped. The channel widens at the last minute and you stare back at the gray fog encircling the dock. The fog gets worse as you move forward, giving you the impression that your floating or flying rather than sailing. You glimpse the "Beautiful Clear Washington Dock" one last time and wonder how far away the island is.

* * *

><p>Kyroma - gosh i didnt mean for you to loose sleep lkjgakjgljagoieg. but thank you! UuU<p>

Shadowcyrse - nothing? i wasnt quite sure how to respond to a four letter review

watchmexplode33 - im glad you are! and i plan to

anonymouse - 'holyshitonastick' is now one of my favourite words. thanks!

Flipspring - wow thanks for the lovely review! seeing how you havent read longer, you might not know that the viewpoints switch from player to player every other chapter, so it will be a long time before i write from John's perspective again, and seeing how the first chapter was written several months ago from my viewpoint you can be sure that the descriptions improve! though i will keep this in mind, thank you! UvU

KrisMaria97 - thanks! eve

mage of day 13 - oh gosh im so sorry to hear that! i hope you feel better, and im glad the update cheered you up ;v;


	6. Chapter 6

**== Be Jade Harley**

You are now Jade Harley. You're a very important asset, everyone says so, but right now you feel as though your about as important as a sack of old potatoes. Everyone else out there is risking their lives every second just to get to you. Meanwhile, you lounge around in bliss almost completely unaware as to what's going on in everyone's lives except what you can learn from your conversations on pesterchum. And 12 trolls are a a lot to accommodate, what if they don't like you? What if they are unhappy living on your island? There are so many what-ifs it makes you sick to think about. Wait, you know what to do! You're going to ask your grandfather for advice, he, like all the other guardians were restored in the game. He always knows what to say.

You run to him and give him a hug. You stare at him with puppy dog eyes and ask him for advice. "Well what can I be assisting you with, little lady?" he asks, his eyes warm. "What the trolls don't like me? What if they die on their way here? What if they don't like living here? What if they hate me? What if-"

He cuts you off there and says, "What if, is such a blasted vague question, it's best not to be worrying about such trivialities."

"But- "No, I will not tolerate such tomfoolery. You should go tend to your gardens, and perhaps chat with one of your chums to feel better. I'm sure, now, what was his name again? Karkat? I'm sure he will be delighted to talk to you. In his own endearing way."

You laugh a little and say, "Sounds like a plan. Thanks Grandpa." "My pleasure, Jade."

You run up the stairs of your house and into the greenhouse. Light filtered in from everywhere and the white walls make it so bright your eyes hurt. Your flowers are flourishing, and you added a lot more edible plants to your garden. You hope the trolls like carrots. You do have some livestock on your island, a few chickens and roosters so at least you have eggs and some meat, but not nearly enough to feed 16 teenagers and 4 adults. You contemplate starting a chicken farm.

You pull your laptop out, and only a few users are online. _terminallyCapricious, twinArmageddons, caligulasAquarium, _and that's all.

You frown, you were hoping Dave, Karkat or John were online. Talking to that weird fish hipster definitely wouldn't make you feel any better. Maybe Sollux would, but he's only nice half of the time. You haven't talked to Gamzee yet, and that's because Aradia told you to avoid him. It's inevitable that you're going to talk one day or the other, but maybe you can prolong the experience a little longer.

As if someone had answered your hopes, _carcinoGeneticist _pops online. You click on his username as soon as he appears online and send a message.

gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

GG: hi karkat! :D

GG: im so glad youre online :)

CG: HEY JADE

GG: im so worried about you, and everyone else

GG: what if youre friends don't like me? what if they don't

like my house?

GG: what if they don't like my food?

GG: or my island?

GG: what if they get hurt on their way here? what if they die? :'(

CG: DO YOU WORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING?

CG: JESUS FUCK JADE, CALM DOWN.

CG: I KNOW EVERYONE WILL THINK YOU'RE GREAT, AND THEY CAN TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.

CG: OR THEY AT LEAST THEY'LL BE APATHETIC, I MEAN YOU'RE ONLY GIVING YOUR HIVE UP TO 12 ALIENS TROLLS, IT'S NOT LIKE THEY HAVE ANYTHING TO BE GRATEFUL ABOUT.

GG: hehe, thanks karkat :)

CG: DON'T MENTION IT, EVER.

GG: hehehe

GG: all that aside, how are you?

GG: are you getting any closer?

CG: I'M DOING OKAY, BUT I DON'T THINK I'LL EVER GET USED TO SEEING SO MUCH OF MY OWN BLOOD COLOR.

CG: IT GIVES ME THE CREEPS.

GG: oh no, im sorry!

CG: WHY ARE YOU SORRY? YOU DIDN'T DO ANY OF THIS.

GG: i know, but i feel like i could be doing so much more

GG: everyone is out there, doing something that has a purpose

GG: and im stuck inside making sure carrots don't die

CG: WHEN YOU PUT IT THAT WAY, OF COURSE YOU'RE GOING TO SEEM LIKE SOME USELESS DOUCHEBAG.

CG: BUT YOU'RE NOT, YOU'RE A DOUCHEBAG WHO BECAME A GOD, YOU'RE A DOUCHBEBAG WHO'S TRYING EVERYTHING SHE CAN TO HELP HER FRIENDS, AND PEOPLE SHE'S NEVER EVEN MET. YOU'RE A DOUCHBEBAG WHO EVERYONE IS RELYING ON, WITHOUT YOU, WE WOULDN'T HAVE ANY HOPE TO SURVIVE.

CG: SO SUCK IT UP, YOU'RE MAKING ME NAUSEOUS.

GG: karkat you really do care!

GG: i knew it, deep deep down you do care :)

CG: DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK, I'M JUST GIVING A PEP TALK, IT'S WHAT LEADERS DO.

GG: and you're the best leader, obviously ;)

CG: DAMN RIGHT I AM.

GG: DON'T YOU FORGET THAT.

GG: i dont think i could if i tried!

CG: I GOT TO GO, Y'KNOW, THE UNDEAD.

CG: THE USUAL.

GG: oh, okay :(

GG: bye karkat!

GG: be safe!

CG: I WILL.

You sigh and close your laptop. You stare out the window for a long time.

* * *

><p>- mage of day 13 gosh thanks! qt<p>

- Flipspring oh wow, you're a great reviewer! such a pleasure to see a nice long review UvU

im glad that you're enjoying the story so much! and, Vriska will definitely come to her sense eventually, whether she wants to or not. / OMINOUS REPLY /

and to answer your speculations, here's a small spoiler - Every event that has happened canonically will have happened in this AU. It obviously takes place in the near future, where the trolls and humans simultaneously won the game. They thought they'd be sent to their respective planets, fully restored - but boy they were wrong! Truthfully, the game is not done with them, this ruined world is just a new challenge for the "players" to defeat.

And sorry for the shorter chapters, since I update so often I'm trying to make them more casual and easy to read.


	7. Chapter 7

**== Be Karkat Vantas**

You are now Karkat Vantas. You're very pissed off to some extent, but then again, when are you not? It's going to take you fucking forever to get to Jade's island, and the only person close to you is a pathetic cripple. Even if his legs are robotic and can probably take him farther and faster than most, you're still surprised that he hasn't been eaten. You're about 1,025 miles from Jade's island. Whatever that means. It's not like numbers have any significance. It's just a number.

You're in a large dark typical forest. Of course you have to be put in a dark eerie forest. Even in the day like now, the large tree tops block out most of the suns rays. You've seen too many zombies to count, and killed many more. Blood has coated over you in layers, and it's going to take a lot of detergent to get the stains out of your clothes.

You've tried getting the gore off of you in a little brook in the forest, but the water was far too cold to stay in for long. The sight of so much of your blood color makes you sick to your stomach. Colored blood wouldn't really be any better, but at least it would be another color instead of your own.

You have a small tent set up in the woods, an old tarp you found when scavenging an over-run refugee site.

What deterred you most though was that the refugee sight had been recently taken over by zombies. When you stumbled upon it, hoping to find some food and water you only found a lot of corpses, some of them still warm by the looks of it. There were a lot of zombies too, but you managed to escape them by hiding in these woods. The camp was completely turned over, decomposing into a hideous shell of what it used to be.

The only thing you could get your hands on was a tarp, a few cans you can't open, and a lantern. You're conserving the batteries as best as you can by not using the lantern unless you absolutely need it. Making fires is out of the question, any kind of light attracts zombies. Sunlight is the only exception. Kanaya has had a very hard time hiding, her glowing rainbow-drinker skin is like a beacon to zombies.

You worry about her for a moment, she has been surrounded by a wide variety of red blood, but unable to drink any of it. If she drank that stuff she'd catch the virus and inevitably become an undead flesh addict. Actually, since she's already undead you wonder if she even has to worry about that. You hope she doesn't try draining you when you meet up.

That reminds you, you're going to need to find some source of food soon, and water too. You drank some water from the brook, but you're not sure if it's safe or not. You think about going back to the refugee camp, but the people killed there would have reanimated as zombies by now and there would be to many of them to fight off. There sure isn't a human Wal-mart around here either. There is probably one close to a city or suburb. But going into areas that are highly populated is pretty much suicide. The refugee camp had maybe 100 people at most and only 30 or so had reanimated into zombies, and you'd barely escaped with your life.

There's probably a town you can raid, you know for a fact the forest is long, but the distance to cross it is very short. There's a road not far from where you are. Well, it's now or never. You are about to go cross the rest of the forest when your best friends troll you. You're relieved that they're alive, but they always seem to chat with you at the worst times. You don't have long before the sun sets completely and you're stuck in the dark. That happened last night, and there's no way you're letting it happen again.

You might as well answer them.

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

TC: HeY bEsT bRo :o)

CG: GAMZEE. THERE YOU ARE, FUCK YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR AWHILE.

TC: uHhHh YeAh, I aCcIdEnTaLlY aLl Up AnD sTuMbLeD oN sOmE zOmBiEs. ThEy cHaSeD mE fOr AwHiLe.

CG: YOU STUMBLED UPON ZOMBIES? HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN?

TC: ReMeMbEr AlL tHoSe HoRnS i HaD?

CG: HOW COULD I FORGET.

TC: wElL i ThOuGhT tHeY hAd AlL dIsApPeArEd, BuT i MuSt HaVe HaD a FeW LeFt.

TC: I sTePpEd On OnE wHeN I WaS cRoSsInG a CiTy, ScArEd ThE sHiT oUt Of Me MaN.

CG: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GAMZEE.

CG: YOU TRIPPED ON ONE OF YOUR OWN FUCKING HORNS AND THEN ALMOST GOT KILLED BECAUSE OF IT?

CG: I THINK YOU'VE JUST HIT AN ALL-TIME LOW.

TC: nAh I dOn'T tHiNk I cAn GeT aNy LoWeR.

CG: PROBABLY. ANYWAY, YOU'RE STATUS IS KIND OF FUZZY. ARE YOU ALREADY ON A SHIP?

TC: YeAh, i Up AnD fOuNd A nEaTo HarBoR aNd GoT mYsElF a BoAt.

TC: sOlBrO fIxEd It Up To TaKe Me To JaDe'S iSlAnD.

CG: SO YOU'RE ACTUALLY ON YOUR WAY OVER TO JADE'S NOW?

TC: yUp :o)

CG: SAY HI FOR ME.

CG: I DON'T THINK I'LL BE THERE ANY TIME SOON.

TC: WhY nOt?

TC: :o(

CG: I'M TRAPPED IN A FUCKING FOREST, THE SUN IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN, I'M NOT VERY FAR AWAY FROM AN OLD REFUGEE CAMP THAT HAD BEEN INHABITATED BY A SHIT TON OF HUMANS. MOST OF WHICH WILL HAVE PROBABLY REANIMATED AND BECOME ZOMBIES BY NOW.

CG: AND THE FRESHER ONES ARE ALWAYS THE HUNGRIEST.

CG: LONG STORY SHORT, I'M TRAPPED, IT'S GETTING DARK, AND ZOMBIES ARE MOST LIKELY HEADED MY WAY.

TC: sHiIiIiIiItTtT tHaT's AlL kInDs Of BaD mAn.

TC: AnD i'M sUpPoSeD tO bE hElPiNg YoU aNd EvErYtHiNg, SoRrY i'M sUcH aN aWfUl MoThErFuCkInG mOiRaIl. :'o(

CG: GAMZEE, YOU ARE NOT AN AWFUL MOIRAIL, YOU REALLY CAN'T DO ANYTHING IF YOU'RE THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY.

CG: I'LL BE FINE, IT'S JUST GOING TO BE A LONG TIME BEFORE I CAN GET TO JADE'S ISLAND.

CG: HOLD ON, SOLLLUX IS TRYING TO TALK TO ME. I'LL CHAT WITH YOU LATER, OKAY?

TC: SoUnDs LiKe A pLaN BrOtHeR, lEt Me KnOw WhAt HaPpEnS.

TC: bE mOtHeRfUcKiNg CaReFuL. :o)

CG: YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY. THOSE ZOMBIES WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT THEM.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

You are most likely screwed. There's no point in making Gamzee stress though. He can't do anything on a boat in the first place. Time to go answer Sollux.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

CG: SOLLUX? ARE YOU THERE?

TA: kk! there you are, ii've been tryiing two reach you for awhiile now.

CG: I KNOW, I'M SORRY.

CG: I WAS TRYING NOT TO GET EATEN.

TA: at lea2t you're dry, ii've been 2oaked two the core becau2e of the 2hiitty place ii'm 2tuck at.

CG: OH YEAH, YOUR UNDER SOME HUMAN WATER PLANT RIGHT?

TA: yeah, and iit'2 gettiing fuckiing freeziing.

TA: but on the briight 2iide ii fiinally kiilled that zombiie that'2 been tryiing two gnaw on me for awhiile.

CG: YOU MEAN THE ONE WITH THE FREAKISH TONGUE?

TA: exactly.

CG HOW THE FUCK DID YOU END UP KILLING IT?

TA: ii u2ed the la2t of my bullet2 two 2hoot iit iin the head.

CG: YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO MOVE SOON THEN. I'M ASSUMING YOU DON'T HAVE ANY AMMUNITION LEFT.

TA: you gue22ed iit.

TA: ii get ii have two leave 2oon, and a2 much a2 ii hate thii2 place ii don't know any other place that2 a2 2afe.

TA: excludiing the one zombiie that found iit2 way down here ii haven't been attacked by anythiing el2e.

TA: 2iince ii got down here ii mean.

CG: I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU MAN.

CG: I CAN'T REALLY HELP IN MY SITUATION, THE BEST I CAN DO IS TRY GIVING YOU SOME ADVICE.

CG: AVOID ANY AREAS THAT WERE HEAVILY POPULATED, LIKE CITIES, MALLS, EVEN TOWNS IF YOU CAN, AND ESPECIALLY AMUSEMENT PARKS.

CG: ZOMBIES ARE ATTRACTED BY NOISE AND SMELL, BE QUIET AS FUCK AND TRY COVERING YOURSELF IN ORGANS OR SOMETHING TO GET RID OF YOUR SMELL.

CG: DON'T LIGHT ANY FIRES, AND TRY NOT TO USE YOUR OPTIC BLAST UNLESS IT'S ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NECESSARY.

CG: UNTIL THEN, JUST TRY. . .FLOATING OR FLYING OR WHATEVER YOU'RE PYSCHIC ABILITIES DO, AND DON'T LET THE ZOMBIES GET YOU.

CG: OTHER THAN THAT I CAN'T REALLY DO MUCH.

TA: at lea2t you're tryiing two help

TA: thank2 for the adviice kk, but ii'm ju2t prolongiing the iineviitable by talkiing two you.

TA: ii 2hould get goiing, ii'll talk to you agaiin 2oon.

TA: hopefully.

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]

You shut your husktop and grit your teeth in frustration. This is utterly unfair. You're supposed to be the leader, but you can't fucking lead if you can only communicate with your teammates through a computer. Sollux would just have to do his best without you or anyone else until he can get some more ammo.

You look at the sky, and notice there are only a few hours of daylight left, and getting stuck out here is not a good plan. You pull your sickles from your strife. You start retracing your steps towards the road, hopeful that you'll get there before twilight sets.

* * *

><p>Just as a head up for any active readers, I waaaaaaaay over-estimated how many chapters I'd written before getting to GamNep. I can assure you that anyone who doesn't ship this will be incredibly bored by the upcoming updates, and I recommend skipping the next chapters. As I never expected to be posting this it's pretty much just shipping, and delving deeper into the story behind the virus.

- watchmexplode33 - thank you! jade's views were tricky, i was hoping that any readers who weren't fond of jade would sympathize her.

- Anonymous - he'll figure something out, no worries! thats fine, i really am glad im getting so many reviews! im glad you agree, i thought that shorter chapters with consistent updates would keep readers active, and hopefully more interested. hmm, good idea, i didnt notice but up until now i haven't really emphasized on how dark it would be now that there is no electricity.

- Chameleon Circuit Fangirl - thank you! the guardians were restored when the game was won.

- Flipspring - oh so that last anon was you! no, i appreciate the critique a lot actually. are you sure you read the chapter properly? it said he had 12 bullets left, and that he would need to reload soon. he had more bullets left, but was running out of the ones already loaded in the gun. sollux is using an old satellite orbiting Earth to jump-start the boats via radiowaves. thank you for the wonderful reviews!


	8. Chapter 8

**== Be the last troll closest to Jade**

You are now Nepeta Leijon. You're out hunting in a lush tropical forest on an island somewhere off the coast. There's not much game on the island, and food has become a large problem. There are no huge hoofbeasts here for you to hunt, just the occasional featherbeast or antlerbeast. You found a tidepool on a beachy strip of land awhile back and fished for a little while, but the fish you caught were covered in spines or were a bright colour, which is a warning sign you know all too well.

You lurk in the shadows of the huge trees and a twig snapping catches your attention. A small antlerbeast is delicately nibbling a few berries off of a branch. You grin, such prey usually isn't so bold as to eating at such low grounds, especially in broad daylight. You sneak closer to the antlerbeast, and get ready to pounce. But something makes you stop at the last minute. The antlerbeast stumbles, and starts walking in a wobbly pattern. You tilt your head in bewilderment, you had only seen one thing walk like that. A zombie. The thought hits you immediately. That antlerbeast is infected.

You climb up a tree and spy on the beast from aloft. It wobbles around in a drunken state, and after a few minutes of woozily trying to steady itself it collapses. You walk over to it, hoping it had passed out. It was still conscious, and it's glazed eyes stared back at you. You pull your claws back, and sink them into it's brain.

You were doing the thing a favour, normally it would have reanimated and infected everything it came into contact with. The infected deer makes you wary though, it means the virus has made it's way on the island. You walk very far away from the carcass, and wash your claws off very thoroughly, in a small stream. You wonder where the stream starts, and follow it upstream. The stream starts at a little pristine pond. You gulp water down eagerly and then survey your surroundings.

A small hive catches your attention. It is next to the pond, and appears to be made entirely out of wood. A strong scent catches you by surprise, and reeks so much you blink back tears. The cabin is spattered with blood, and a few carcasses are cast about the porch. The bodies are old, and decayed by nature. The virus must have carried itself to the island on whoever traveled here you think. Curious, you open the door to the cabin. There might be good food inside.

The inside of the cabin makes you feel cozy. The strong sunlight filters in through paned windows and there is a fireplace, as well as large brown couches. The windows are eerie though, the light is filtering in through hastily nailed boards. You walk into what hopefully is a kitchen, and quickly realize nothing is edible. The fridge door is wide open, and the smell of rotten food is pungent. You hold your breathe and hope that there is some food in the cabinets. You open the cabinet expectantly, but there are only cans of beans and a few stale crackers. You almost take the crackers, but you hesitate, the virus has been sitting here too long and you don't want to take any chances. You wander out of the kitchen, and a trail of blood catches your attention. You follow the trail up a flight of stairs and open a door to the only visible room. The scene on the inside makes you inhale sharply, and the smell of death once again clouds your senses.

A couple, they looked possibly middle-aged, were sprawled across the floor. The were holding each others hands, and in the their other hands lay guns. Dried blood is pooled around their heads, and their eyes are open, staring past each other. They appear to have killed themselves. You assume they contracted the virus from the zombies outside, but upon closer inspection neither of them have any visible bite wounds. The couple makes you sad, they died together, in a final stand of pity or hate you don't know. Human romance sure is too simple for it's own good. You briefly think of Karkat, and wished he was here with you. Or your beloved moirail Equius, but he was much too far to be near you.

The scene becomes too much and you run out of the cabin as fast as you can. You go back to a secluded little grove, and pull away a cleverly disguised entrance to a cave. The cave is cool, and white sand makes a very comforting floor. You pull your hubtop out and check to see who's online.

_terminallyCapricous, and carcinoGeneticist _are online. You're delighted that Karkat is online, but right as you go to talk to him he goes offline. You frown, and realize only Gamzee is left online. You haven't talked to him at all since. . .well you don't want to think about that now. No one else is online though, and you need to take your mind off of that gruesome picture in the cabin. You click on his profile before you can talk yourself out of it, and send him a stiff hello.

arsenicCatnip [AC] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

AC: :33 hello gamz33

There is a long pause before he replies.

TC: uHhH hEy NePeTa

Suddenly you don't know what to say. You type out several messages, but end up deleting all of them. After a few minutes Gamzee tries picking the conversation back up.

TC: NoT tRyInG tO bE rUdE, bUt WhAt PoSsEsSeD yOu To AlL uP aNd TaLk tO mE? :o

AC: :33 it's kind of a long story and i really need someone to talk to :((

AC: :33 will you listen fur me?

TC: oF mOtHeRfUcKiNg CoUrSe, I'm AlL eArS sIs.

AC: :33 thank you so meowch gamz33 ! :33

AC: :33 *ac curls up next to gamz33 and prepurrs to tell him a gruesome story*

TC: HoNk :o

AC: :33 i was walking around on the island i'm at, and i found this really cozy looking hive next to a pond

AC: :33 but i found a bunch of dead bodies around the porch :((

AC: :33 i went inside to s33 if there was any food or water, but the fridge was open and the food was all rotten

AC: :33 there was a pawful trail of blood leading up a flight of stairs

AC: :33 i followed the trail into a room and the scene inside the room was horrible :'((

AC: :33 there was a couple holding hands, there was a lot of blood

AC: :33 i think they killed themselves, and died together

AC: :33 *ac sniffles at the thought and pulls her hat over her face*

TC: *Tc PaTs Ac On ThE bAcK aNd PuLlS hEr HaT bAcK*

TC: tHaT's MoThErFUcKiNg AlL kInDs Of WrOnG, cHiCa. :o(

TC: BuT tHiNk Of It ThIs WaY

TC: mAyBe tHeY wErE aLl Up AnD MoIrAiLs, AnD tHeY tHoUgHt ThE bEsT wAy To PrOtEcT eAcHoThEr WaS tO dIe.

TC: ThEy MiGhT nOt HaVe HaD aNy ChANcE lIvInG oUt ThErE aNd ThEy WaNtEd A lEsS pAiNfUl WaY tO gO.

AC: :33 hmmm

AC: :33 weeeell :((

AC: :33 you have a point

AC: :33 thanks fur listening gamz33 :33

TC: nO pRoBlEmO. :o)

TC: HoNk HoNk.

AC: :33 h33 h33

AC: :33 oh gamz33! have you found a boat yet?

TC: i'M oN a BoAt RiGhT nOw ChIcA.

AC: :33 wow! that was fast! sollux said that my island is on the way to jades

AC: :33 i cant find a boat on here and i definitely dont want to have to get a ride from eridan

AC: :33 can you pick me up on the way? :33

TC: I sHoUlD aLl Up AnD bE aBlE tO dO tHaT. :o)

TC: cAn YoU pUt SoMe SoRt Of SiGn Or LaNdmArK sO i KnOw WhAt iSlAnD iS YoUrS?

AC: :33 sure thing!

AC: :33 ill write something in the sand :33

AC: :33 thanks again h33 h33

TC: YoU'rE mOtHeRfUcKiNg WeLcOmE cHiCa.

arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

That went surprisingly a lot better than you expected. You leave your husktop open in case anyone tries to message you when you're gone. You step outside of the cave, and walk to the beach. Sollux taught you how to figure out which direction is which using the human sun, and you know Gamzee would be sailing from the coast. You walk to the East side of the beach and write using a huge stick ":33 SOS! KITTEN IN NEED OF A GOOD BOAT"

You walk back to your cave and recover the disguised entrance. Pulling your long overcoat over your shoulders like a blanket you drift off into sleep.

**== Be the one on the boat**

You're now Gamzee Makara. The conversation you just had almost gave you a panic attack. The awful memories of what happened in the Veil had rushed back to you all at once. You shake and try thinking about something else, anything else. You end up watching the sun set, and you realize something. If Nepeta wrote a message, it would be really difficult to see at night. You walk to the very front of the roof of the boat and keep a sharp lookout for anything. You wait for a few hours and after seeing nothing your eyes start closing shut. You drift off to sleep, exhausted.

**6 hours later**

The boat is ramming into something. Your eyes snap open and you look over the edge of the roof, the boat is crashing into an island and you are thrown forward, off of the roof. You land painfully on the deck below, arm twisted awkwardly and finally the shuddering stops. You're arm is bent in a way that shouldn't be possible, and moving it shoots fireworks of pain off. You get up and look at the island you crashed into. It looks fairly large, with a jungle like forest and a white clean beach. You try climbing back up the roof but with your arm it's impossible. You reluctantly climb down the boat, and jump onto the beach.

Your night time vision has always been a lot better than most, and the moon is almost full casting a cool white light on the island. You hesitantly look at your arm, and regret the decision. The bone is sticking out of the skin and a lot of indigo blood is pooling out of it. You need to stop the bleeding before you pass out, but something written in the sand stops you. It reads, ":33 SOS! KITTEN IN NEED OF A GOOD BOAT!"

You stop in your tracks. Only one person writes like that. Nepeta is on this island. She must be close. You call out for her, as if the noise from the boat hadn't been loud enough anyway. You begin to feel light-headed. Indigo blood is gushing out of your arm, seeping into the beach. You absentmindedly prod the bone in your arm. You're vaguely aware of pain. Your vision is blurring, colors are draining away and fading to monochrome. You slump over weekly and the last thing you remember before blacking out is the moon shining down, taunting you.

**The next morning**

You awake in a cool cave. Your head is throbbing and it feels like someone stabbed your arm, and then stuck tons of tiny needles in it. You're sore everywhere and moving makes you woozy. After lying down and counting the stalactites for awhile you try sitting up. You lean against a rock and realize there's a large green coat over you. You're arm is bandaged with . . leaves and t-shirt scraps? The materials are tinted indigo. You're half tempted to tear the bandage away and look at your arm, but decide it is best to wait.

Suddenly you hear a noise. Instinctively you sit up and try standing. The action makes you light headed and black dots cloud the corners of your vision. You pull your clubs from your strife, but if it's more than one zombie you are done for. A voice echoes from a tunnel in the cave wall.

"Gamzee? Are you awake?" the voice is soft and a bit childish.

"Nepeta? Is that you? I'm awake." Your voice is rough and horse.

Nepeta stalks into the room, and you lower your clubs. She's wearing a T-Shirt with the Leo symbol, and her hands are covered in red blood. She's dragging a large carcass behind her, a dead antler beast. She looks like she's torn between being happy, or frightened. You realize that last time you saw her was when you were knocking her skull in. You flinch outwardly at the memory, and she frowns. She masks the frown in an instant and bounds over to you.

"You look a lot better than last night! Hee hee." She smiles expectantly at you.

"Wha? . . .What motherfuckin' happened?" You ask.

"I found you passed out on the beach, there was a ton of blood pooling around you. Your arm was pawfully messed up too. I tried fixing it up the best I could, but I couldn't pop the bone back in place. Does it hurt too much?" She frowns and shudders.

Your curiosity gets the best of you and you rip the bandage off of your arm. The bone is still sticking out, and your arm has swollen considerably. Purple veins are shooting around the wound, but it's not bleeding anymore. There is an awful scent wafting from the area. You don't know much about wounds, but your certain that it's infected.

"It doesn't hurt all, and it looks a lot better. Thanks chica." You lie and give your best fake smile. Fake smiling is easy for you, your makeup makes it look like you are smiling already.

She stares at you suspiciously and then plops down next to you. She studies the arm and says, "It's purrobably infected, hopefully the infection will take care of itself. But if it doesn't. . ." She trails off and stares at you sadly.

You smile warmly, "You don't need to worry, I'll be motherfucking fine. I just need some rest and maybe some food is all."

"Ooh that reminds me!" She squeals excitedly. She drags the dead antlerbeast in front of you, and casually tears off a leg. She holds it out for you, and grins proudly. You stare at the raw leg, and take it. You stare at her, and she stares at you. ". . .Well? Aren't you hungry?" She asks you.

You realize she wants you to eat the leg raw. You halfheartedly give it a tentative sniff and it reeks of blood. She smiles innocently at you. You hold your breathe, close your eyes and pretend your eating a warm sopor pie. You take a huge bite, and try swallowing it whole.

The taste is awful. It tastes vaguely like iron from the blood, the meat is gamey and cold and it feels like you swallowed a slimebeast (slug) whole, and it's fighting all the way down. You can feel it coming back up, but you take another bite before your meal makes a get away. Nepeta is grinning at you and she's indulging in another leg. She swallows happily and you're bewildered as to how she can stand eating it raw. After choking through most of the leg, your stomach gurgles unhappily and you lie down. Nepeta stares at you with concern.

"Is everything okay?" She asks.

No. Everything is not okay. Nothing is okay.

"Yeah, I'm just all up and tired y'know."

She glares at you. "Gamzee, I'm the meowrail of the toughest troll efur, he's as stoic as rock. Getting feeling jams out of him is like trying to move an unmovable object. I can read emotions like a book. Why are you lying to me?" Her tone is serious and surprises you.

You shrug.

"Gamzee, we are stuck together until your arm gets better. If you want to have a feelings jam, or just talk I'm here."

Feelings. There are so many of them you're almost overflowing with them.

"I'm all good chica." You say in monotone.

". . .You're sure?"

No. You're not sure. Dammit just talk to her. Just say something. Anything. You're argue silently with yourself until you blurt, "Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you helping me? You probably saved my life, you gave me food, and now you're asking me if I want to talk about motherfucking feelings. What is up with that?"

"Gamzee, stop being silly. You're my furriend, and furriends help each other! I couldn't just leave you there to bleed to death. That would be awful." She says matter-of-factly.

"After what I did though? I don't deserve any of this." You mumble.

"That's all in the past. Water under the bridge, as the humans say."

"I'm sorry. I'm really motherfucking sorry. For what I did."

"Gamzee you don't need to apolog-

"But I mean it. I-If Karkat hadn't been there I'd have killed everyone. I can't believe everyone let me live in the first place."

Nepeta sighs and curls up next to you, "Gamzee, calm down. You were sick, and when you needed help no one paid any attention. That's there mistake. My mistake, everyone's mistake. Maybe if someone had bothered to ask how you felt no of that would have happened."

"I can't believe you're trying to blame yourself for what I did." The thought is so absurd you laugh, but it's strained and sounds unnatural.

"Efurryone makes mistakes. You just need to realize that you're furgiven, and it's in the past. Don't furget it was my claws that gave you those scars." She points to three deep jagged lines across your face.

You try so hard to cover up those scars with makeup. But there are always faint lines, always a reminder, you avoid mirrors and reflective surfaces now like you used to avoid the harsh Alternian sun.

"Thanks, Nepeta." You say. You roll over and yawn.

She smiles sweetly and puts the overcoat back over you. She curls up next to a rock not too far away and tells you to go to sleep.

You close your eyes and the gentle sounds of breathing and the wind, muted by the cave walls lull you to sleep.

* * *

><p>Wow just look at all this gamnep. Though, credit for the original concept (Gamzee getting hurt and crashing on Nepeta's island) goes to my friend VampPup12. She actually helped me a lot with this story!

- Flipspring lmao its fine! nope. i didnt change his character at all haha. thank you! oh wow woops you just spoiled some tidbits for yourself! though i can assure you there are no zombies on Jade's island. for now, at least.

- Shadowcyrse ehehe i think its adorable. yep! all of the trolls and humans and guardians are still alive. oh, and the lussi are too.


	9. Chapter 9

**== Wake Up**

You awaken sometime in the day. You can tell because there is comforting golden sunlight streaming in through cracks in the cave walls. The Earth's sun is much farther away than Alternia's sun, and the light doesn't hurt at all. You sit up, and your body protests. Your headache is worse than yesterday, and sitting up is no longer an option. You take the overcoat off and unwrap the fresh bandage on your arm. You almost faint at the sight of it.

It's swollen at least three times more than yesterday, and more indigo lines have spread across your arm. The skin has swollen so much, that the bone has been pushed out farther and indigo blood sluggishly seeps out of the wound. You look to where Nepeta had been sleeping, and she is gone. You cover the wound again, determined to hide it.

After resting for awhile you hear some rustling in the cave. Nepeta must be back. "Nepeta? Are you back?" You ask. There is no answer. She must not have heard you properly. "Chica, you there?" Still, no answer. You're worried now. And fear begins gnawing at the back of your mind. There is a crash in the cave, and now you sit up. You're woozy but focused on the sound. You hear it again, and draw your deuce clubs from your strife. You see a shadow sneak across the cave and ready yourself for the worst.

You are embarrassed that the sound was simply a small gnawbeast (rat or mouse). You set your clubs down, and watch the gnawbeast skitter around the cave floor. Something isn't right though, it moves oddly, and it's eyes look feverish. A reddish substance is dripping from it's mouth, probably blood or saliva. It hisses at you and starts stalking towards you. You pull one club behind your back and as soon as the creature comes in range- THWACK! You smash it into the ground. You fling the creature away with your club and make sure not to touch the blood on the club.

After a few more moments of waiting Nepeta returns, carrying a sack that sloshes when it moves. "Hey sister." You greet her as she throws herself to the ground and guzzles down something from the sack. "What in the motherfuck is that thing?

She wipes her mouth and says, "It's a water-skin, humans used to use them to store water. It's filled with water, want some?"

You didn't even notice how parched you are until she mentions water. You grab the skin and drink. It's warm from the sun outside, but quenching none-the-less. Nepeta notices the dead gnawbeast, "Ugh! What's this dead gnawbeast doing here?"

"It all up and tried biting me when you were gone. The only thing I could do was kill it."

"Well you made the right decision, one bite from this and you can say goodbye to living." She wrinkles her nose and picks the carcass up with a leaf, she throws it outside of the cave and walks back over to you.

"How are you holding up? Does your arm feel better?" She asks and moves to pull the bandage away.

You grab her hand and push it back, "It feels motherfucking fine, a lot better." She raises her eyebrows, and purses her lips. "Mhhmm. Then you wouldn't mind if I just, took a look at it?" She taunts.

"Oh well, I don't see why you'd want to. It's still pretty motherfucking freaky."

Without a word she rips the bandages off, and gasps. "Oh Gamzee it looks pawful! You have to tell me if it looks this bad! Ugh look at all those purple veins, you purrobably have blood poisoning."

"You wouldn't be able to do much anyway, I didn't think there was a point to making you worry. And what the motherfuck is blood poisoning?"

She rolls her eyes but her look is quickly replaced by concern. "It's when your blood gets infected, and it spreads throughout your veins. It can make you hallucinate, feverish, and dehydrates you very quickly. There's only one thing I can think of that might help, but it will be painful."

". . .What's that?"

"Well, I'll have to pop the bone back in place, and hope your immune system fights the infection off."

"Do you have to?"

"If you ever want your arm to heal, yes. I'll do it now so we can get it over with."

"What, wait, not right this min- She cuts you off there by grabbing your arm. You gasp and wince unwillingly in surprise.

She gulps and drags you closer. She grabs hold of the bone, and of your forearm. Pain is shooting up through your arm and your grit your teeth, trying not to yell. You bite your lip, and grit your teeth. Blood vessels pop and closed arteries get reopened. Tears are pricking your eyes, and when you wonder when you'll black out there is a satisfying

-POP-

and the pain begins to ebb away from the affliction.

Relief flows from Nepeta and she timidly gives you an encouraging smile. You're too tired to really say anything, and instead lazily give her a nod. She collapses on the ground next to you, arms spread out in a mock snow-angel position. She stares at the ceiling for awhile, and after some time she rolls over to face you.

"Does your arm feel any better?" She asks.

"It actually does, thanks Chica." You reply wearily. You're exhausted, and having your sleep schedule thrown off hasn't helped. Since you got to Earth and realized the sun was no longer a threat, you'd been going to sleep at night instead of day. It seems the same with the other trolls as well. The humans say it's perfectly normal to sleep at night, but to the trolls that idea was absurd and silly.

She stretches like a cat might, and kneads the floor of the cave with her paws. She purrs, the sound surprisingly identical to that of a meowbeast. Nepeta curls up, arms tucked under her chest and continues to purr. She looked like a cozy meowbeast, content and sleepy. She peeks one eye open at you, and playfully paps your leg. You smirk and pet her on the hand. She giggles, and then pretends to hunt something invisible. Or maybe only she can see it, Nepeta has always had the best night vision out of everyone. Her innocence, for a short time, makes you forget the hardships of this new world. She grins at you and demands that you try roleplaying with her.

You agree, you know she'd beg you again later anyway, and she quickly starts sketching a character for you with a burnt stick. You're character is now a creature known as a chimera, a goat like being that can breathe fire and is very poisonous. She explains that in roleplaying, you have to forget about yourself and believe the character you're playing is completely real. That makes the best roleplay scenario.

She sets up a plot, she is a two-mouthed meowbeast that has been stealing prey from a deadly dragon. You're her new apprentice, and have to learn how to steal prey without waking the deadly dragon up.

"It would be a lot more fun if Equius, or Terezi, were here to play the deadly dragon. Equius refuses to roleplay with me, but I bet you could get him to change his mind!"

You remember how Equius had devotedly obeyed anything you said, even if you were joking. Something in the back of your mind tells you he would feel differently now.

She uses the leftover antlerbeast as the prey killed by the dragon, and she begins sneaking up on it. Her head snaps in a direction every once in awhile, as if she can hear the "dragon" snoring. You still can't walk, but you army crawl in with her, pretending your arm doesn't bother you.

After a few hours of friendly roleplaying you begin nodding off. Nepeta must've noticed and kindly lead you back to the little corner of the cave both of you referred to as your recuperacoons. Though the sand of the floor of a cave was possibly the farthest thing from your hive, let alone recuperacoon, Nepeta was quite accustomed to living in a cave.

You slump down, and pull the remnants of Nepeta's overcoat over you. She throws herself down onto a patch of sand and grass and kneads the area a few times before shutting her eyes. After a few minutes, her breathing becomes slower and softer letting you know she's asleep. You sink into unconsciousness not long after.

* * *

><p>I apologize for lack of updates, I've been quite busy with school work! And as an fyi - I'll be posting a FAQ for answers to your questions.<p>

Kurotaka Naoka - thank you!

Anonymous - thanks! and nope! all of the characters are alive. since this was going to be a Left 4 Dead crossover, the initial infection took place around 2 weeks ago. though, up until then the majority of them have been trying to conserve power as best as they can

Blah - gosh yeah this pair is adorable. is weird with their formatting, wait 10-30 minutes and the next chapter should be up. if not, keep waiting it will be up eventually

Kyroma - wow i didnt expect it to be that bad! maybe i start putting warnings on these chapters HHMM.

HoNk hOnK - oh gOSh darnit i keep forgetting the little stuff like that. thank you for reminding me! ill be careful with the later chapters and be sure to edit them

BurnTheHotelEllis - please read the first chapter carefully, Vriska has alreday been introduced! if you mean 'where' and in where specifically, she's in a large wooded area, probably something like an old forest reserve. the other characters will be introduced, be patient! oh and of course id love to add you on pesterchum! unfortunately, it doesn't work properly on my PC. id be willing to share my Skype with you though.

Flipspring - goodness you're my favourite reviewer! you have been such a help lately UoU

as for what you said about the light, that is a great idea, and i actually imagined the light filtering in when i was making a mental image of the island. yes, that'd probably be the sensible thing to do, but that would ruin all the fun! nah, there's actually a reason. im not sure if i actually wrote this out, but you have to climb a ladder to get on the boat, i don't think Gamzee'd be able to do that with a broken arm UoU thank you so much!

Anonymous - i've decided to limit the powers of the god-tiers, as Sburb/SGrub has ended, they don't really much use for their powers. for example, since John is the Heir of Breath his wind powers have been limited, and he has trouble flying for long distances now. Jade can teleport, but only herself. same goes for Bec.

muteCarplayer - haha, thank you! i will.


	10. Zombiestuck FAQ 1 Special

FAQ! Though, I doubt many people will actually read this.

Sorry, I'm well aware that this isn't the update you were all probably looking forward to. I've been sick lately, and honestly I feel a little flustered to post the next chapters! As UU would say, there is the tiniest smidgen of romance. In other words there is a shit ton of romance. (But worry not, I'm working on posting the next chapter now!) I decided to start updating about once every few days, or once every few weeks as I haven't written anything new for the story in awhile. I have plenty of inspiration, just not enough time to write. The only recent writing I've done is pretty much one paragraph that is most likely riddled with plot holes, oops.

Um, anyway, moving on to the point of this! I noticed a lot of people have either been asking questions that require more space to answer, or they've been asking the same question even though I've answered before in earlier responses. I also anticipate that I will get a lot more questions, therefore I'll be answering some common ones here I expect people will ask. Now to the actual answers!

**1. Is, "Insert character here alive?" "If they aren't, which type of zombie would they be?" "When are you going to write for, "Insert character here"**

Alright, I will be making this clear right now. ALL, the characters are alive. The kids, the trolls, the guardians and even the lussi. The guardians, lussi, and dead trolls were restored to their Pre-Sgrub/Sburb selves when the game was won.

None of the characters will be dying in this particular AU. They will get injured, as many of you know already, but I'm trying to keep everyone alive and well! For now, at least.

As for when I actually write for each individual character, it really depends. The story will mostly focus on two characters at a time, for a long time. If you'd like an order it will be, Gamzee and Nepeta for a bunch of chapters, then Karkat and Terezi, Sollux and Aradia, etc. I will be introducing the other characters in chapters in between just for some diversity.

I also got a questions asking where Vriska was, which confused me. Please read the chapters carefully, Vriska has already been introduced, in the very beginning of the fan fiction. As for what setting she's at specifically, she's located in a wooded area, probably like an old forest reserve.

**2. Are there any zombies at Jade's island, and she just doesn't know about it?**

Nope! There are legitimately no zombies on her island. Sorry if that's disappointing to you, but the chances of such a remote island like hers becoming infected is low.

But, for an ominous suspense inducing **spoiler, SPOILER, SPOILER IF YOU'RE STILL READING AND DON'T WANT A SPOILER YOU HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF.** When everyone gets to the island (eventually) they'll be bringing a whole lot of virus with them, and I can guarantee you something, is going to get infected and they'll have to leave again.

**3. How are their laptops/computers still running?**

Since this AU was originally a Left 4 Dead crossover, the storyline only takes place about a 2 weeks after the initial infection. There's still some juice left in most outlets, but for the most part they've been conserving battery power. Sollux's computer has been running on a generator left over from the water treatment plant.

**4. If Aradia/Vriska can fly, then why can't John?**

I've decided to limit the powers of the god-tiers, as the game has ended they don't have a real need to use their space/time/etc. powers. I've restricted every god-tier's powers, for example Aradia cannot stop time completely, only slow it down. John can still create wind storms, but no where near the same velocity and strength as in the game. He can still fly, but it tires him out faster than the other god-tiers since his element relates to wind and flight.

**5. Can't Jade just teleport everyone to her island?**

As I mentioned above, I've limited the god tier's powers, Jade can only teleport herself, and only around her island. She can teleport other items, but one at a time and they have to be relatively near her location.

And when I say they've been limited, they MAY work to regain them! None of them know this yet, but later in the story the god-tiers will begin to realize that if they work hard enough they can regain lost powers.

**6. Wouldn't it make sense for Nepeta and Gamzee to leave the island as soon as possible to get proper medical help?**

Probably! Though, I'm not sure if I actually wrote this out, but in order to get on that huge yacht you need to climb a ladder. Gamzee's arm is (clearly) broken, and I doubt he'd be able to climb up the ladder and onto the deck. It may seem like a lot of time has passed by, but in reality the amount of time it takes for them to get on the boat and start sailing is only around 5-6 days. In one of my head canons, the higher the blood colour the troll has, the faster they heal. Indigo bloods can heal broken limbs in 5-7 days, purple bloods can heal a broken limb in up to 1-2 days, and magenta bloods like Feferi can take several hours or a day.

7. I can't see/read "Insert chapter here". Why is this?

is funky with their formatting, wait 10-30 minutes and the next chapter should be visible. If not, wait some more, it will eventually appear.

**8. "Link here" "Username here" This is my username/account! Can we talk?**

Sure! I'm open to chatting with any of my readers, and I especially love a good Zombie role play. Unfortunately, my pester chum doesn't work. But I've got a Skype and a Tumblr I'd be willing to share, just ask in a review and send me your skype name.

**9. How does Gamzee stay high in the apocalypse? If he isn't, why is his typing quirk the same?**

First, I'd like to clear some things up. **I am not writing the story as I get reviews, I have roughly 70 pages PRE-WRITTEN. I take reviews and advice into consideration for further writing, not as I go along with the story!**

So when I began writing this, no one knew what Gamzee's typing quirk was going to be when Karkat calmed him down. It would have taken way too much time to go back and re-write all his dialogue in his new quirk!

As for remaining calm, he mostly talks to Karkat or Kanaya when he feels murderous. If anything gets particularly bad he messages Jade and she teleports one or two pies. I've worked out that the kids still have let over objects from the game. Gamzee had a left over pre-punched card of the pies and sent jade the code for it. The only problem now is conserving grist.

**10. Is there any fanart for this AU? Can I draw some?**

Not that I'm aware of. I've done sketches of the characters, but I haven't drawn anything I'm too happy with. I am perfectly fine with anyone interested in drawing fanart, as long as you link back, and show me of course! I would love to see some fanart.

Hope this cleared up any questions you had! I'll be adding to this continually, about once every 10 chapters or so depending on how many reviews and questions I get per update.


	11. Chapter 10

**== Be Nepeta Leijon**

You are now Nepeta Leijon. A light is shining down on you, so bright you can tell beneath your eyelids. Reluctantly you let your eyes open. You realize you'd fallen asleep in a place where the sun shone around the middle of the day. _The middle of the day. _You've slept in way too late! Normally by now you would have brought prey back, and fed Gamzee. You realize how dependent on you he has become. Unintentionally, karma has given you a chance to get revenge. Whenever you felt like it, you could pack your things and steal his boat, leaving him here to fend for himself. You push the thought away quickly and become disgusted at yourself for even thinking it. Friends help friends, that's simply all there is to it.

You look over to the spot where Gamzee was sleeping last night. He's still asleep, snoring softly. Maybe it's not such a bad thing you let him sleep in, he was exhausted. You take your claws out of your strife, and attach them to your knuckles. You quietly sneak out of the cave, into the glare of the sun. It is nothing compared to Alternia's blinding cauldron you called a sun. It took a lot of convincing from the humans, and long memos of arguing, but eventually all the trolls agreed it would be best to adpot the humans pattern of sleeping. For some reason, zombies seem to be less active during the day, and more active at night. You were lead to believe it's because of their dead eyes, sensitive to light now that they've been weakened by viruses. It took several days of getting used to, but you sank into the routine of falling asleep at night and waking at day. Maybe the only reason why trolls went to sleep during the day was because of the blistering Alternian sun anyway.

You follow the scent of a plump featherbeast, you find it not much later and make quick work of it. It smells delicious, plump with juice and fat off of various wild grains. You kill a small hopbeast and another type of featherbeast before deciding it's enough for the two of you.

You bask in the sun for a little while, and then head back to your cave. A sudden chilly wind grazes your arms and gives you goosebumps. You look at a tree, and several yellow-ish brown leaves fall to the ground. You realize that the human season fall is upon your hive door. With dismay you also come to deduce that means less and less prey. And when winter came, almost no prey. You hope that Gamzee's ship hadn't been too violently squashed.

You walk inside the cave, dread pressing in on you from all corners of your mind. A low and warm voice from inside the labyrinth of the cave greets you,

"Hey, Chica!" You instantly feel better and skip down the cave to meet Gamzee. He's sitting up, and his eyes that had normally been glazed over with pain or fatigue, are bright and full of life. You grin at him, give him a mew of greeting and proudly show him the catch of the day. He stares at the pile, unsure of what to say. You are well aware that he hates the taste of the animals, but you don't know how to start a fire let alone cook anything. You doubt he does either. Besides, it's much easier to get him to eat when he thinks you adore the food. You really do love raw animals, but after awhile the taste gets redundant.

You gracefully twirl over to him and being plucking the feathers out of the featherbeast. You don't mind them, but you're sure that eating feathers is probably not something most trolls would enjoy doing. You skin the rabbit and hand him a leg, hopefully the best tasting part. He eats it ravenously without complaint. That's a good sign if he's regaining his appetite you think.

"How is your arm doing?" You ask between mouthfuls of the featherbeast.

"It hasn't really bothered me today, it just feels motherfuckin' stiff y'know." He replies, placing the rabbit bone on the ground and lying down again.

Judging by the look on his face, he's telling the truth. You take the bandages off of his arm, and he doesn't even try stopping you. The wound has healed considerably, the indigo lines had started to vanish, the blood was scabbing over, and it no longer reeked of rot or infection. You grin happily, "The wound is a lot better! The blood purroising has started to go away, and I think you've finally starting fighting the infection off hee hee!" You giggle happily and purr. "You should feel better in a few days, maybe then we can leave the island and head for Jade's." You inform him. You know tonight is going to be a cold one, and it's not going to be the last.

"We gonna all up a leave this soon? Is there a reason why you're rushing?" He asks you. You're surprised by how he knew relatively what you were thinking.

"This island may be tropical-like during the summer, but since the planet is on an axis, there are diffurent seasons of weather. Fall is coming, and after that is winter. It means it will be furry cold and very little to no food. I just think we need to leave the island before it snows and the prey completely disappears. Jade told me all about it! She is smart for a human hee hee." You explain to him. He nods, hopefully understanding why leaving would soon be important.

"I don't think the boat was damaged too motherfucking much, we could check it out later and if there are any damages see it Eridan could give us a ride." He suggests.

You flinch at the thought of Eridan. You never cared for him, and he's always been a thorn in your paw. But Gamzee does have a point, if the ship is damaged then Eridan is probably you're only ticket out of here until much later in the winter.

"You have a point. . .but I don't think I'll ever like Eridan." You stick out your tongue for emphasis, and then continue, "If you're feeling up to it, we could inspect the boat. But we'd better go soon, the sun will start setting sooner and sooner. We purrobably only have a few hours of day left."

"Then let's motherfucking go! Honk Honk." Gamzee replies and shakily tries standing up.

His legs wobble a lot at first but he strides confidently after you not much later. You push the cave covering aside and climb out. You help Gamzee out, he's very tall but weighs much less than you previously expected. The only trouble the cave opening provides is getting his horns out. His head catches and he has to duck uncomfortably to wriggle out. You speculate how you got him in there in the first place.

He stands up and squints in the sun. It warms your back, but the chilly wind sends shivers up your spine. Gamzee hands you your over-sized overcoat. His teeth are chattering, and you remember being taught by your lusus as a wriggler that highbloods are not as warm-blooded as lowbloods are. Meaning they're more susceptible to temperatures. Though Gamzee seems unfazed by the chill, and surveys the trees with awe. The leaves are turning spectacular colors, yellows, oranges and even striking reds.

You bound over and lead Gamzee back to the crash sight. The boat looms ominously, casting a huge shadow over the shore. You sprint over to the yacht, and try looking for any noticeable dents or breaks in the hull. Gamzee sits down on a rock nearby, clearly fatigued from moving so much after being cooped up for so long. You can't find any breaches in the hull, and except for a lot of scratches the yacht appears to be in a good condition. You're relieved that you can leave whenever Gamzee feels better. You sneak a glance at Gamzee and try to determine if he's strong enough to climb onto the ship. Considering the short distance it took to get here, and how he's already exhausted you doubt it. He should be good to go in a day or two you think to yourself.

You pad along the side of the boat, and something red and shiny catches your eye. There's a red square-like object jutting out of the sand at the beach. You walk over to it, and brush the sand away, unearthing the artifact. It's a husktop, with a green seagoat imprinted on the top. The symbol reminds you of Gamzee's lusus, and your curiosity piques. It's probably his, you think and walk over to him lugging the husktop.

"Gamzee, I found this by the shore. The symbol on the top looks a lot like your lusus! Does it belong to you?"

"Hey, yeah, you found my husktop! Thanks, Chica." He replies, and takes the husktop out of your hands. He opens it, and presses the start button. Miraculously, it beeps and begins loading. You find it lucky the thing is still operational. Then again, husktops are built to be very durable. After a few minutes of waiting the husktop has loaded. You crawl up the rock and sit next to him, peering over his shoulder. He's loading trollian, and as soon as he opens his inbox a plethora of unanswered messages pile up. You and him read the messages together.

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling terminallCapricious [TC]**

**(Message received Offline. Date: 4 days ago)**

CG: GAMZEE, WHERE IN THE EVER-LOVING FUCK ARE YOU?

CG: IT'S LIKE YOUR SOME SHITTY STREET PREFORMER, THERE ONE MINUTE, THEN GONE THE NEXT, IN A FLASH OF SEIZURE INDUCING COLORS AND CONFETTI THAT GETS STUCK IN EVERYONE'S HAIR.

CG: SERIOUSLY, WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME?

CG: OR ANYONE, REALLY.

CG: HAVE YOU DECIDED THAT YOU'RE BETTER OFF WITHOUT EVERYONE, OR AM I JUST MISTAKEN.

CG: OKAY WHAT THE HELL MAN.

CG: NORMALLY AFTER 2 OR 3 PLEADINGS, DISGUISED BY WITTY INSULTS, YOU'VE ANSWERED ME.

CG: . . .

CG: I HOPE YOU'RE NOT DEAD.

CG: MESSAGE ME BACK WHEN YOU CAN.

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**adiosToreador [AT] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**(Message received Offline. Date: 4 Days ago)**

AT: uHHH, HEY GAMZEE,

AT: nO ONE HAS HEARD FROM YOU IN AWHILE,,,

AT: sO, UM, I HOPE YOU'RE DOING OKAY,

AT: kARKAT IS PRETTY FURIOUS WITH YOU BY THE WAY }:(

AT: aNYWAY, LET ME KNOW,,,WHEN YOU DECIDE TO CONTACT ONE OF US,

AT: pLEASE, TRY NOT TO GET INTO ANY TROUBLE,,

AT: uM,,,BYE }:(

**adiosToreador [AT] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**(Message received offline. Date: 3.5 days ago)**

GA: Hello Gamzee

GA: It Has Come To My Attention That You Refuse To

Acknowledge Your Whereabouts Or Contact Anyone

GA: This Troubles Me So As You Are Normally The Talkative Type And Enjoy Engaging In Social Activities

GA: One Of Which Includes Talking Or Typing In This Case

GA: Especially In The Midst Of A Situation So Dire One Can

Only Describe It As Quote A Shitstorm Unquote

GA: Quote Courtesy Of Karkat

GA: Who Will Most Likely Enjoy Partially Strangling You When You Meet Up

GA: Youve Worried Quite A Few Of Us Survivors

GA: Though It Is My Take That You Are Most Likely Severely Injured And Unable To Answer Your Messages

GA: In That Case I Sincerely Wish You The Best Of Luck In Recovering And I Hope That You Get The Chance To Come Online Again And Soothe The Worries Of Your Closer Friends

GA: I Wont Waste Anymore Time Talking To Someone Who Obviously Isnt There

GA: Goodbye Gamzee

GA: I Pray You Will Return In One Peace

**grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**(Message received offline. Date: 3 Days ago)**

GC: H33333Y G4MZ33 H3H3H3H3

GC: 1 H34R YOU'V3 G1V3N 3V3RYON3 TH3 SL1P AND GON3 OFF TO YOUR OWN W1LD 4DVENTUR3S

GC: 3V3RYON3 1S TRY1NG TO F1GUR3 OUT WHO YOU WOULD MOST L1K3LY ANSW3R

GC: 4S YOU C4N S33 W3R3 RUNN1NG OUT OF TROLLS

GC: 1 DOUBT YOU WOULD T4LK TO M3 4FTER K4RKL3S 4ND T4VROS 4LREADY TR13D H3H3H3H3H3

GC: OK4Y NOW 1 KNOW 1M JUST T4LK1NG TO MYS3LF :[

GC: OH W3LL! HOP3FULLY YOU'LL TURN UP 3V3NTU4LLY

GC: BUT DON'T FORG3T TH1S

GC: YOU M4Y H4V3 B33N FORG1V3N BY 3V3RYON3 3LS3, BUT 1'M NOT 4S 34SY TO W1N OVER

GC: JUST1C3 1S 4LW4YS S3RV3D

GC: SO WH3N, OR 1F, R34LLY WHO C4R3S, W3 M33T UP ON TH4T

1SL4ND YOU B3TT3R KNOW D4MN W3LL TH4T TH3 S3COND I C4TCH YOU ALON3 YOU W1LL BE PUN1SH3D TO THE FULL 3XT3NT OF THE L4W

GC: H4V3 FUN W1TH TH4T THOUGHT C4NT1NK3R1NG 1N YOUR TH1NK

P4N H3H3H3H3H3H3 ;]

**gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**apocalypseArisen [AA] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**(Message received offline. Date: 2.5 Days ago)**

AA: hello gamzee!

AA: i was told by the others that youve gone missing

AA: as well as nepeta but she has always taken a few days to reply to messages

AA: but as i am lucky enough to be bestowed with the powers of time though now limited i am still well aware of where specifically when you are situated :)

AA: i hope you and nepeta are getting along well

AA: and im sure youll speak with the others when youve finished recovering

AA: heal quickly gamzee! :D

AA: goodbye :)

**apocalypseArisen[AA] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**(Message received offline. Date: 2 Days ago)**

AG: Heeeeeeeey Juggalo-fuck ;;;;)

AG: A little spider told me you're missing!

AG: Oh who am I kidding.

AG: Karkat wouldn't stop whiiiiiiiining a8out you not answering and now he's forcing us to try to get you to answer us ::::(

AG: It's ridiculous! No one has stopped to even consider the fact that your fingers may have 8een chewed off and now you can't type anything.

AG: If that's really what happened,

AG: Then that sucks! Hahahahahahahahaha ::::)

**arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious**

The messages end there. It seems as though after Gamzee's closest friends tried getting an answer out of him they just either gave up or assumed that he was too injured to answer. Though you weren't aware Vriska was one of his friends. Maybe they were going to have her threaten him.

"Looks like there's no point in holding out on them any motherfucking longer." He says, cracks his knuckles, and turns his trollian tag from offline to online. A few other users are online.

_carcinoGeneticist, twinArmageddons, grimAuxiliatrix, and cuttlefishCuller._

**== Be the troll being harassed by multiple people**

You are now Gamzee Makara. Karkat beings messaging you almost instantly

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

CG: HOLY FUCK GAMZEE YOU'RE FINALLY ONLINE.

CG: WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?

CG: EVERYONE ASSUMED YOU'D DIED OR HAD BECOME A ZOMBIE BY NOW.

CG: HOW COME YOU DIDN'T ANSWER ME?

CG: ARE YOU HURT OR SOME SHIT?

CG: DAMMIT, I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL.

CG: BUT NOOOO, NO ONE EVER LISTENS TO PUNY INSIGNIFICANT KARKAT, AND I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE FUCKING LEADER.

TC: WoAh BrOtHeR cAlM tHe FuCk DoWn.

TC: tHe BoAt CrAsHeD wHeN i WaS aSlEeP, i LaNdEd On ThE iSlAnD NePeTa Is StAyInG aT.

TC: LuCkIlY sHe FoUnD mE bEfOrE I GoT tOo hUrT.

TC: i WaSn'T oNlInE 'cAuSe I aLl Up AnD bRokE mY aRm, It GoT iNfEcTeD aNd I wAs ToO sIcK tO gEt My HuSkToP.

TC: SoRrY BrOtHeR :o(

CG: OH. SO YOU WERE HURT THEN. WELL AT LEAST YOU DON'T HAVE A COMPLETELY SHITTY EXCUSE.

CG: BUT NEXT TIME TELL NEPETA TO LOG ONTO TO TROLLIAN ONCE IN AWHILE.

CG: I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES EQUIUS HAS ASKED ME IF I'VE HEARD FROM NEPETA.

CG: IT'S ALWAYS, "SWEAT SWEAT SWEAT GRR LOWBLOOD SCUM HAVE YOU HEARD FROM MY MOIRAIL WHO WOULD RATHER TALK TO YOU THAN ME SWEAT SWEAT SWEAT."

CG: ALMOST EVERY FUCKING DAY, SERIOUSLY.

CG: I MEAN I KNOW HOW NEPETA FEELS ABOUT ME, BUT I THINK SHE'D STILL TALK TO EQUIUS FIRST.

CG: I THINK SHE'S AWARE THE FEELING ISN'T MUTUAL.

CG: I DON'T WANT TO BE MEAN TO HER OR ANYTHING, BUT I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO PUT UP WITH HER MOIRAIL WHENEVER HE'S ONLINE

TC: uHhHh, DuDe, ShE's ReAdInG tHiS cOnVeRsAtIoN rIgHt NoW.

_CG: _WHAT.

CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

TC: ShE's LoOkInG oVeR mY sHoUlDeR, rEaDiNg ThIs.

CG: SERIOUSLY GAMZEE? OH FUCK ME.

CG: TELL HER I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT. SHIT. SORRY.

CG: GOD WHAT WAS I THINKING, I'M SUCH AN IDIOT.

TC: sHe RaN oFf.

Tc: :o(

TC: I sHoUlD pRoBaBlY gO cHeCk On HeR.

CG: GOD DAMMIT. NOW I FEEL LIKE AN ASSHOLE.

CG: ALL RIGHT, I'LL TALK TO HER LATER. I'LL LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOU.

CG: SEEYA GAMZEE.

TC: tAlK tO yOu LaTeR bEsT bRo.

**terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

You go offline, and shut your husktop. Nepeta had whimpered and run off when she read that line, and you know it must've put a real dent in her emotions. You put the husktop under some leaves, and walk off to find her.

* * *

><p><strong>Blah<strong> - Thank you! Well, the thing is, the entire story has been pre-written. At the time, no one knew what Gamzee's quirk was going to be when Karkat calmed him down! It would've taken way too much time to go back and edit all his dialogue to match. Everyone once in awhile Jade will teleport him a pie, but if he ever feels to unstable he just talks to Karkat or Kanaya. But, I expect that in the future there may be a few rampages!

**Alexander the Phoenix** - Thank you hehe! Not much actually, some of the other characters will fall ill and have occasional relapses but that's about it. Spoilers haha! They might, but I doubt it.

**fanfic reader** - Oh thank you! Not that I am aware of, but I would love it if someone would draw fanart! I have drawn lots of sketches for this AU, if anyone is interested I can scan them and link them in the next update. UmU

**Kyroma** - Yep! I wanted to brighten such a somber time for only a little while.

**FireFox** - Aaaaa thank you so much! uou

**Flipspring** - Omg best reviewer ever! Thank you so much hehe. In my headcanon, the farther up on the scale you go the better your immune system is. So, in my head, Gamzee probably does have some killer immune system. Oh, wow, yeah I didn't realize that! I added it in some further explanation in this chapter, hopefully that will clear anything up! If you still have some questions just let me know.

**d.a **- Oh, thank you for the input! As I've mentioned this story is pre-written, and I've already had Equius be a bit angry with Gamzee. I imagine that he wouldn't really mind so much that he was killed by Gamzee himself, but more angry with the fact that he then murdered Nepeta. Just my opinion though. UmU

**anon - **They can slowly regain their powers yes, but none of them have realized that yet. They will further on though!


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey guys! I decided to put the Author's Notes in the beginning of the chapter (In the hopes that more people will read these /sobs) So if you don't want to hear me mumble to myself, simply skip the bold text and be spared the brutal schooling I'm about to give you. First, I'd like to say thank you for all of the reviews I've been getting! Recently though, I've been getting less and less reviews. I'm not sure if it's because I upload them at inconvenient times, or if I've just lost people's attention with my writing. TL;DR I'd would _really _appreciate some more reviews, even if they're just simple "this is cool" - I find it hard to keep editing and writing new chapters when I don't get as much feed back. One last thing, ff will delete the arrow key for some reason, so some emoticons or typing quirks will loose their purpose. I'm not sure why they do this, perhaps they do it so people can't use codes? If anyone knows how to fix this, it would be much appreciated**

**Secondly, if you've been reading this and don't ship GamzeeXNepeta, you've been warned that this is about when I start writing for the ship. My romance writing skills are VERY BAD, as in, how do I romance?**

**Thirdly, for anyone who would like to roleplay, my Skype is Biiirdiie. If you add me please let me know that you've read this story and would like to chat!**

**LASTLY, I wanted to say that after the recent updates, Kar/Ter may or may not be a thing. I guess if you actually read this PLEASE VOTE, and let me know whether you'd like some Kar/Ter in there or not.**

**Okay you can stop reading this now, if you even did in the first place.**

* * *

><p>You head back to the cave, and you find her in one of the tunnels, just barely big enough for nepeta to fit in. Your horns block the way, so all you can do is sit outside of the entrance. You're unsure of what to say, you only talked to her every once in awhile in the Veil, and even then you still have no real idea who Nepeta is. She's been kind and considerate of you on the island, but this surprises you greatly. You'd expected she's try to get some sort of revenge or at least treat you a little more apathetically. Perhaps now is the time to try getting to know her, since you'll be stuck together on a boat for the next few weeks anyway.<p>

"Um. Are, are you okay Chica?" You ask tentatively. You hear some sniffling noises, and then something that sounded a bit like, "I'm fine"

"You don't motherfucking sound okay."

"Just leave me alone, why do you even care?" She asks, the question echoing off the walls.

"I can't just be leaving you here to cry, and I'm not abandoning my friend either."

"You wouldn't get it. No one does, and I don't think anyone ever will. Not even Equius." Her voice turns vicious, quite different from her normal cheerful speech.

"Maybe if you told me, I could try to "get it"?" You bargain.

She simply makes a "hmph" noise and doesn't respond. One minute she's like a brokenhearted teenager the next she's like a grown woman who caught her matesprit cheating on her.

You don't really know what to say. Talking to people has normally been natural to you, Terezi once described you as the friendliest troll she'd ever met. Of course, that was awhile ago. According to her newest message she's planning on killing you. You mentally add her to the "motherfucking avoid at all costs list" which has been growing since the game ended. You also mentally scratch Nepeta off of that list.

You get lost in your thoughts for awhile before realizing Nepeta is still distressed. You turn your attention back to her, and firmly say, "Nepeta, you ain't going to feel any better if you just sit in a dank cave tunnel and weep."

The sniffling stops. You hear her shift around, and finally it appears she's coming out of the cave. You hear claws scrape against the ground, and before you can even say anything you are attacked by a grief stricken adolescent troll.

The air leaves your lungs upon impact, and Nepeta is sitting right on top of you, one pair of claws raised threateningly above your face. She moves the three daggers dangerously close, finally stopping right in front of your left eye. You blink in surprise and gasp for breathe. She's heavier than you would think, and powerful arm muscles flex. You realize she's probably very well-fit from hunting animals almost her entire life.

Pained expressions flit through her face. She looks indecisive, furious, heartbroken, sullen, shocked, all at the same time. Finally, after a few minutes of stunned silence she gets off of you, and sits down next to you. You sit up, arm creaking, and you groan when you hear your arm make a worrying popping noise. Nepeta looks ashamed, and then focuses on picking away lint from her blue meowbeast shaped shoes. You stare at her, until she looks at you, but she won't meet your eyes.

"Sorry, Gamzee. I overreacted." She says. "Did I hurt your arm?"

In truth she did, but it's not that painful.

"It'll heal, no worries. I'm sorry about what happened with Karkat, but you can't deny he's impulsive like that. Think of how motherfucking stressed he is." You try reassuring her.

"I know, but, I just feel like I've known him for a lot longer than I actually have. And loved him even longer." She confesses.

"Love?" You ask her. You've heard the humans use this word, and even you use it sometimes, but you aren't sure what it means. Add that to the fact you had no idea she loved Karbro.

"It's a human quadrant. Well, actually their only quadrant actually. It's an emotion I think. It's like our pity, except you don't pity them. It's. . .it's hard to describe. It's devotion, and feeling like your whole life depends on them loving you back. Which is why unrequited love is so hard to deal with." She says. Her voice is still very young, but you get a sense that you can't shake, that says Nepeta is a lot wiser than most people are led to believe.

"So love is a human emotion? Or a quadrant?" You ask. You still don't quite get it.

"Humans don't have quadrants, they only have love. It's a emotion that you'll know it when you feel it."

"What's it feel like?"

"Almost everything. Passion, devotion, anxiety, frustration, pure happiness, and they can make you smile or feel like no one else can. Like shipping, it can make you really happy, or really sad." She says it almost wistfully, but you can see in her eyes pain.

You don't know how to respond. You know the pain of unrequited pity, but not of love.

"That's why I didn't think anyone would get it. I know of trolls who've had unrequited hate, or unrequited pity, but not of love." She says sullenly.

You get what she's trying to explain though. At least the concept of never being able to be with the one you want to be with.

"I think I get what you're trying to say. Not being with the person you want to motherfucking be with, right? Especially if it means hurting someone else." You think of how Terezi would react if Karkat dumped her for Nepeta. You shudder at the thought.

Nepeta gives you a half-smile and says, "Exactly. I just couldn't do that to anyone. I have the best meowrail anyone could ask fur, but not a matesprit."

"I'm sure you'll motherfucking find someone to be with."

"Gamzee, we are in the middle of an apocalypse, we could both die, and you still think I could find a matesprit? There's only 12 trolls left in the universe!"

"Yeah, but I still think you'll find someone. Just wait for a motherfucking miracle, Kitty."

She grins, and then laughs. "How can you be so optimistic? And, did you just call me kitty?" She playfully paps you, like a meowbeast.

"I just go with the flow, y'know, and fuck yeah I did, you call Karkat, Karkitty."

She considers the name for a minute. Then she purrs, "I like it! I think I'll keep that as a nickname!" She exclaims.

She yawns widely, showing off needle-sharp teeth. She looks drowsy, and makes you feel like taking a nap. She gets up and you both walk back to the main chamber you slept at normally. The chamber is frighteningly chilly, and you give Nepeta her overcoat back. She doesn't want to take it, but you insist she sleeps in it.

You both curl up in the corners of the cave you'd grown accustomed to. Nepeta turns around to face you and says, "Thanks fur cheering me up Gamzee. I really apurreciate it."

She smiles and then turns over, pulling her huge overcoat over her head, her body completely disappears under the green coat. You notice she's taking a considerably longer amount of time to fall asleep than normal. Though that may have been from the fact that you're suppressing cold shivers, and your teeth chatter every once in awhile. Finally she throws one half of the coat over you, turns over so she's facing away from you, and before you can say anything, she's pulled one side of the coat over her head. The coat is lined with either fleece or wool, and you quickly warm up.

She falls asleep quickly, part of the silvery moon shining on her face. Then, like in a stereotypical romcom that only Karkat would enjoy, you're blood gusher, or heart as the humans say, beats a little faster, and your stomach wrenches. You think Nepeta looks very pretty, with her gray skin illuminated by the moon. You're a little worried about this weird feeling. It's a bit like the pity you once felt for Tavros, but there's something more. Is it love?

But then, you remember how she feels about your moirail, Karkat. The realization that you'd never be with her comes crushing down around you, and you it's like you're suffocating. You feel like if your emotions were tangible, someone would have just punched them really hard in the gut and then left them there to wallow. You roll over and try to mentally block the feeling out but it's still there, and you have a very hard time falling asleep.

**== Be Nepeta**

You are now Nepeta Leijon. You've just woken up, your tousled raven coloured hair falling in your face. You wonder when you last took a proper bath. It was awhile ago, and you know you must smell pretty bad. You note Gamzee's messy mop of hair, but somehow it works for him. He's still sleeping, and at first he looks peaceful, but as you look closer you see that's not that case. His fingers twitch, though almost covered by the overcoat. His face is contorted into an odd look, one of both deep pain, and of anxiety. You determine he must be having nightmares, and decide to wake him up.

You shake him gently and say, "Gamzee, hey Gamzee, wake up." He shakes his head lazily, and then opens his gray-indigo eyes. You look into them, concerned. Hastily, he avoids your gaze and sits up. He yawns, and stretches, sleepiness dominating the once pained expression. You cross your arms and stare fiercely at him. He notices you staring at him, and uncomfortably meets your look. He appears exhausted, and for some reason stricken with grief. Your gaze softens and you ask him gently, "Are you alright, Gamzee? You seemed like you were having bad dreams."

He pauses for a few moments and then half-heartedly replies, "You could say that." He shrugs and slouches, making him appear much shorter and more guarded. You know something is up, and you swear you'll get it out of him by the end of the day. You narrow your eyes, and sniff, pretending to be smelling for something suspicious. You wonder what could have possibly caused this sudden change in attitude. He'd normally been pretty casual with you, admittedly a little awkward or defensive in some moments but you don't blame him. Now he acted very uncomfortable, guarded, and even a little shy.

You pad over to him, and put your coat back on. The temperature has warmed a little with the sun rising but you can already tell it will drop again soon. You decide to go hunting, and maybe clear your thoughts a little. "Whatefur, Gamzee. I'm going to go out hunting fur a little bit." You say and arm your favourite blue claws for hunting.

He looks undecided and then asks suddenly, "Could I try motherfucking hunting too?"

You blink in surprise. He'd never offered to go hunting with you, but maybe that's because he was so weak. You consider it for moment, and decide he could use the fresh air anyway. Maybe he really just did have a bad dream, and didn't want to talk about it. You smile and say, "Sure! I hope you're feeling up to it though, hunting can be dangerous! Depending on the prey of course."

He grins excitedly, "Aw shit it sounds sweet! I've never tried hunting before." He pulls two clubs from his strife, both are still stained red from previous undead encounters. You vaguely ponder how many zombies Gamzee has killed, and then you remember how the virus had spread it's way to the island.

"Oh that reminds me! Be carefurl of the creatures you see, as you know the virus is on this island. It can infect wild animals as well as trolls and humans." You warn him cautiously.

"Alright Kitty, I'll be motherfucking careful."

You smile happily and bound over to the cave door, and he follows. He seems to be back to his old self; maybe even a little happier. You help him out of the cave once again, careful of his arm though it still looks much better. He shivers in the sudden cold, and you once again worry about the upcoming weather. Even on the ocean it will get very cold, until you reach the equator. You sniff, and listen to every sound. You can hear Gamzee breathing, his heartbeat, the wind on the trees, tiny gnawbeasts in their burrows, the water lapping at the shore, and it's all very peaceful. You breathe in deeply, and pick up the scent of antlerbeast. It's strong, possibly 3 or more.

You begin silently padding your way to the woods. You're worried about Gamzee, since he's never hunted before he might be loud and scare all the prey away. But as he follows, he's shockingly light on his feet and makes little to no noise. You stop suddenly; you hear delicate hooves crushing twigs. You peer through a cluster of bushes and see 4 antlerbeasts huddled together, eating deep black magenta toned berries. Gamzee sidles up next to you, clubs at the ready. You nod at him in signal, in a flash the two of you have almost silently disposed of the antlerbeasts, and you now have food to last for days. Assuming it doesn't go bad before then. He drags three of the carcasses for you, even though you offered to take two.

When you get back to the cave, he drags all of the prey into a little pile that's cool, which will hopefully keep it fresh. You tilt your head, and think that perhaps he's being so helpful as some sort of passive aggressive way of saying thank you for helping him. But that sounds a bit too complicated of planning for Gamzee and you wonder if he's doing it unconsciously.

You tear off a leg of antlerbeast and chew on it, reflecting on the events that happened today. You decide you'll talk to Equius, when he's online, and maybe Kanaya too. She's always been very good with emotions, and listening to people. You get up and pull out your rarely used husktop, it's gotten a little dusty. You haven't used it as much because it only has so much power left. When that last bit of battery is used up, it will be gone until you can find another source of power. You load the laptop, and Gamzee curiously shambles over to where you're sitting.

_grimAuxiliatrix, and arachnidsGrip _are the only users online. You definitely don't want to talk or roleplay with Vriska, she's very mean, and a little sadistic. Luckily for you Kanaya is online! You click on the jade green profile and type out a message. You shift the computer so that Gamzee can't see, he gets the hint and wanders off to another tunnel in the cave.

**arsenicCatnip [AC] begantrolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]**

**AC: **:33 hello kanaya!

**AC: **:33 h33 h33

**GA: **Hello Nepeta

**AC: **:33 can i talk to you about something?

**GA: **I Must Say The Fact That You Chose To Converse With Me Is Incredulous

**GA: **But I Am Delighted To Sooth Your Queries

**GA: **Ask Away

**AC: **:33 what if, hypothetically speaking, someone who you've been hanging around for the past few days has a sudden change in behavior?

**AC: **:33 what does it mean?

**GA: **Karkat Informed Me Of Who Youre Caring For And I Am Very Proud That You Refrained From Slicing Gamzees Throat Out

**GA: **Though Im Not Sure What Your Question Really Implies

**GA: **Do You Mean Hes Going Through Withdrawal Like Symptoms Again

**AC: **:33 i should have known karkitty would tell everyone anyway :((

**AC: **:33 and no! it's almost the exact opposite XOO!

**AC: **:33 he claimed he had a bad dream this morning and was all tired, but then he was all happy and even helped me hunt fur food

**AC: **:33 he was acting all helpfurl and stuff too

**AC: **:33 i just don't really know what to think of all of it!

**GA: **Hmmm

**GA: **That Is Quite The Predicament

**GA: **Its Seems As Though He Is Going Through Random Bouts Of Behavior

**GA: **Maybe He Is Trying To Rid Himself Of Guilt By Assisting You

**AC: **:33 i thought that too, but i have feeling that's not it

**GA: **Oh

**GA: **Insert Quizzical Question Mark Here

**GA: **?

**GA: **Describe To Me In Detail What Happened Today

**GA: **I Dont Want A Single Moment Overlooked

**GA: **I Shall Analyze This Situation No Matter How Long It Takes

**AC: **:33 thanks kanaya h33h33! :33

**AC: **:33 well this meowrning i noticed he looked really anxious and grief stricken in his sleep

**AC: **:33 so i woke him up, i assumed he was just having bad dreams without the help of sopurr

**AC: **:33 but when i woke him up and asked if he'd had a nightmare, he just took a long time to answer and said, "you could say that"

**AC: **:33 he acted so cryptic argh! XOO

**AC: **:33 then when i said i was going hunting, he offered to help me!

**AC: **:33 he's actually a purretty good hunter, and we got a bunch of food for the next few days

**AC: **:33 and then he carried purretty much all of the kill fur me!

**AC: **:33 i don't know what his deal is

**GA: **You Were Quite Right About It Being Puzzling

**GA: **But I Think I May Have An Idea Of What's Happening

**GA: **Have You Talked About

**GA: **Relationships

**GA: **With Him Recently

**GA: **These Are All Tell Tale Signs Of Confusion About Emotion At Least From What Ive Gathered By Reading Human And Troll Novels

**AC: **:33 um. . .well yeah

**AC: **:33 i read some stuff karcat said about me and got really upset about it :((

**AC: **:33 gamz33 kind of comforted me and gave me some simple advice

**AC: **:33 why do you ask?

**GA: **Oh Well

**GA: **Its Best You Find Out On Your Own

**GA: **And Besides I Might Not Even Be Right

G**A: **Maybe He Really Did Just Have Bad Dreams And Isnt Feeling Very Well

**GA: **Can You Do Me A Favor And Tell Gamzee To Come Online So I May Speak With Him

**GA: **Ill Try To Deduce What Caused His Odd Demeanor

**AC: **:33 oh thank you so meowch kanaya!

**AC: **:33 you are pawsitively wonderful :33

**GA: **You Neednt Thank Me I Am Only Doing Whats Right

**AC: **:33 h33 h33 allright then!

**AC: **:33 goodbye, and i'll tell gamz33 right now

**arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]**

You quickly tell Gamzee that Kanaya wants to talk him, and then run back to the other cave room before he can say anything. He must be sure you were talking about him now, but it's for his own good you tell yourself. You curl up and listen to him type away on his keyboard.

* * *

><p><strong>Review Responses<strong>

**Blah - **Haha, thank you!

**Annabel - **Thank you very much! Glad you like the story umu

**Piefloverd - **Thank you uvu


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Yet another chapter that has no significant plot, and is riddled with terrible romance and slightly OOC trolls CONFUSED ABOUT EMOTIONS. Just like Homestuck am I right. **

**Anyway, I want to thank you all for the skyrocket in reviews (From 2-3 to 11 in one chapter! That's amazing, thanks guys!) Keep the reviews coming please! And to give the people who are curious an estimate of about how much I write, I write at LEAST 1,000 words a night, no joke. I have 106 pages pre-written now, and over 40,000 words.**

**All right, and I counted up the votes for shipping, and I can now give you all a list of what ships will be in here FOR SURE. First, there were 2 nos for KarTer, and 3 for KarTer! So the ship will be integrated in the fiction a little later. Sorry to the people who didn't want the ship, but majority rules! Honestly, I didn't get many votes at all.**

**NOW then for the list of pairings! **

**- *MAIN* Gam/Nep**

**- *MAIN* Kar/Ter**

**- *MAIN* Sol/Ara**

**- *MAIN John/Vriska**

**- Tavros/Jade**

**- Dave/Jade**

**- Kanaya PALE FOR EVERYONE**

**Anyways, thanks again for the reviews, and reading!**

* * *

><p><strong>== Be the troll being lectured by a meddling troll<strong>

You're now Gamzee Makara. Nepeta just told you Kanaya wants to talk to you, and then bolted off somewhere. Undaunted, you open your husktop and go online. Kanaya almost immediately opens a chat with you. You are bewildered as to how fast she can type.

**grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

**GA: **Gamzee We Must Speak Right Now It Is Of Great Importance

**GA: **You Had Better Answer Me I Can See Youre Online

TC: WoAh WoAh WoAh, WhAt'S gOt YoU aLl FlUsTeRed, SiSter?

GA: Based On Recent Conversations With Someone Who Will

Remain Anonymous I Must Ask You Something Dire

TC: yOu MeAn You TaLkEd To NePeTa, AnD yOu'Re GoInG tO pLaY MiNd gAMeS wItH mE, RiGhT?

GA: Only Half Of That Is True

GA: I Have No Desire To Engage In Silly Petty Things Such As Mind Games

GA: But I Merely Wish To Ask You Some Questions

**GA: **And Perhaps Have A Friendly Feelings Jam If That Is Alright With You

**TC: **Uh, SuRe I GuEsS?

**TC: **wHaT kInDa QuEsTiOnS YoU bE tAlKiNg AbOuT hErE?

**GA: **Questions That Have To Do With Quadrants

**GA: **Particularly Redrom

**TC: **iSn'T tHaT sUpPoSeD tO bE lIkE, yoUr OwN mOtHeRfuCkInG bUsInEsS?

**GA: **Gamzee Surely By Now You Know I Relish In Meddling With People

**GA: **Anyway Moving On To My First Question

**GA: **Do You Have Any Quadrants Filled

**TC: **No, NoT rIgHt NoW.

**TC: **wHy Do YoU cAre AbOuT tHaT sHiT?

**GA: **Hush I Will Tell You Later

**GA: **Next Question

**GA: **Actually Before That Theoretically Imagine Yourself Sitting On A Large Leather Couch

**GA: **And That I Am Next To You Taking Notes Expertly As You Answer My Questions

**TC: **ArE yOu RolePlAyInG?

**GA: **If That Puts You More At Ease Then Yes

**GA: **Okay My Second Question Is How Do You Feel About Nepeta As A Person

**TC: **wHaT dO YoU mEaN?

**GA: **Her Personality How Do You Feel About Her Personally

**TC: **Oh, WeLl, ShE hAs A GrEaT pERsOnAlItY. :o)

**TC: **sHe'S a LoT sMaRtEr tHaN yOu'D tHiNk, AnD sHe'S rEaLlY fRiEnDlY.

**GA: **Continue

**GA: **What Is Your Favorite Aspect Of Her Personality

**TC: **pRoBaBly HeR gEnErOsItY aNd OvErAlL MoThErFuCKiNg kInDnEsS.

**GA: **I See

**GA: **Now For My Third Question

**GA: **Are You Aware Of What The Single Human Quadrant Is Called

**TC: **YeAh, NePeTa TrIeD eXpLaInInG tHaT sHiT tO mE.

**TC: **wHaT aRe YoU gEtTiNg At HeRe?

**GA: **Nothing Big Really

**GA: **I Just Think Your Opinions On Nepeta Are Connected In Some Very Emotionally Confusing Way To That Single Quadrant

**TC: **ArE YoU sAyInG i'M iN lOvE wItH hEr?

**GA: **Gamzee I Am Very Good At Reading Emotions And Based On What Nepeta Has Told Me And What Youve Told Me That Is The Only Reasonable Explanation I Can Draw

**GA: **Are You Denying It

**GA: **Because Youre Normally Very Open And I Dont See You Making Any Attempts To Tell Me I Assumed Wrong

**GA: **Or Perhaps Youve Contracted Some Rare Disease That Causes Abrupt And Roller Coaster Like Emotions

**TC: **wHy Do YoU aLwAyS hAvE tO mEdDlE iN tHiNgS tHaT sHoUlD bE lEfT aLoNe? :o(

**GA: **Well I Assumed Youd Want To Talk About It

**GA: **No Need To Get Angered And Use Emoticons

**TC: **jUsT pLeAse DoN't TeLl HeR, i'Ll GeT tHiS sOrTeD oUt On My OwN sOoN EnOuGh.

**GA: **So You Admit It Then

**TC: **YeAh.

**GA: **Alright I Promise Not To Tell Her

**GA: **But You Will Not Be Able To Get This Sorted Out On Its Own With Or Without Others Help

**GA: **Love Does Not Simple Disappear And I Speak From Experience

**GA: **It Will Haunt You Until You Feel Sick To Your Very Bones

**TC: **i ReAlLy hOpE YoU MeAn ThAt MeTaPhOrIcAlLy.

**GA: **Unfortunately I Am Not

**GA: **I Recommend That You Confess As Soon As Possible

**TC: **WhAt GoOd WoUlD tHaT dO? iT's ObViOuS tHaT sHe DoEsN't FeEl ThE sAmE wAy.

**TC: **aNd ShE'lL pRoBaBly FiGuRe It OuT sOoNeR oR lAtEr.

**GA: **And Yet Dont You Recall How Nepetas Feelings Were Discovered By Karkat

**GA: **Look How That Relationship Ended Up When She Didnt Tell Him Directly

**GA: **You Should Tell Her At A Very Crucial Moment Or Perhaps If She Is Injured Or Sick

**GA: **That Way She Will Either Not Have Enough Time To Think About It Or Shell Probably Forget Anyway

**TC: **:o(

**GA: **Gamzee Though I May Come Off As Rude Or Inconsiderate I Want You To Know I Sincerely Am Only Trying To Help You

**TC: **I kNoW, kAnAyA; i'M sOrRy FoR aCtInG aLl uNgRaTeFul.

**TC: **i JuSt DoN't KnOw WhAt To Do. I cAn'T tElL hEr NoW, iT jUsT dOeSn'T fEeL rIgHt Y'kNoW.

**TC: **I aPpReCiAtE tHe HeLp, ThAnKs A BuNcH sIsTeR.

**GA: **Anytime Gamzee

**GA: **I Wish You Luck

**grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

You shut the husktop, go offline, and absentmindedly rub your scars. It's a bad habit that you picked up whenever things weren't going your way, or you had nightmares from lack of sopor. You can hear Nepeta from the other side of the tunnel, probably trying to read what you were typing. You're not one to get embarrassed easily, but this whole conversation has left you in a worse mood than before; and feeling flustered.

You captchalogue your husktop and walk over to a rock where you're pretty sure Nepeta is spying on you. You peer over the side of it, and sure enough Nepeta is hiding there. Her face turns a greenish colour and she blinks in surprise. She opens and closes her mouth a few times, obviously at a loss for words. You trace the perspective of her hiding place to where you were sitting and realize she'd been able to read your conversation with Kanaya. Blood rushes to your face, visibly signaling your embarrassment. Nepeta gives no sign of recognition to this, so you instead channel your blush into anger. She was "eavesdropping" on your conversation, and gossiped about you to Kanaya behind your back anyway.

You glare at her, and she stutters out some incoherent babble. You open your mouth but it's turned dry and the words are caught in your throat. You both gape at each other like that for a few minutes before Nepeta finally speaks up.

"So what did Kanaya tell you?" She asks.

You blink in surprise. You were sure she'd read your conversation, but maybe she couldn't see it from her view? Or she might be lying to avoid any awkward pauses, of which several have already occurred.

"You didn't read my chat?" You ask suspiciously.

She dips her head down, ashamedly, and says, "I tried to, but I couldn't see furrom behind here. Sorry, Gamzee. I shouldn't have tried to read your messages."

"You really didn't all up and read that shit? Don't be bullshitting me." You're still not sure if she's telling the truth; better make sure.

"No! I purromise, I didn't." She says; you see sincerity in her eyes.

Your initial embarrassment and frustration melts away almost completely. You take her hand and help her out of the small space she'd squeezed into behind the rock. She lands perfectly, and spins a little on one foot. You can't help but smile at the scene. She is very lissome; she would make an excellent dancer. Finally she stops twirling, and stops to face you.

"You didn't answer my question Gamzee, what did Kanaya talk to you about?" She asks curiously.

You fidget, trying to think of a sufficient answer. "Oh, she was just all up and meddling like she normally does. The whole thing was kinda mundane." There, that at least isn't a total lie. Nepeta thinks on this, her lips pouting out to the side when she's analyzing something important. She taps her foot for emphasis; her eyes wander to the ceiling. She reminds you of the saying, "SHIT JUST GOT REAL" and you suppress a laugh, because she looks ridiculous and adorable and all you can think of is her saying SHIT JUST GOT REAL with cheesy sunglasses and everything. You zone out for a bit, before realizing her lip stopped pouting and her train of thought is coming to a stop.

"I'll talk to her later then, maybe she can fill me in on the boring details. Come on Gamzee, let's eat and take a looong nap! " She says, and smiles happily.

You nod your head in approval and follow her back to the main chamber. You're so relieved that all blew over, and Kanaya promised to keep your feelings a secret so Nepeta could bother her all she wanted to. By the time you sit down, your stomach is growling with hunger and you're starting to get a headache from lack of food. You're almost happy to eat a raw antlerbeast leg.

After finishing the leg though, you notice the headache still hasn't gone away. You walk over to a pool of water in the chamber, maybe you're just thirsty. After gulping down some water that tasted like minerals, the headache has lessened, but it's still there. You sit down in your corner of the cave, and the headaches steadily gets worse. As the sun finally sets all the way, the chamber becomes increasingly cold. You barely even notice though, you feel hotter and hotter as the night goes on. The small headache has gotten worse, now into more of a throbbing pain in tune with your collapsible-water-based-vascular system. Or heart, for short.

Nepeta finally pads over to you, and takes her overcoat off. She lays half of it on you, and then snuggles down under the other half. You're grateful for the over coat; with all of the previous heat gone, you feel freezing even more cold than before. Nepeta notices your shivering and puts the rest of the overcoat on you. You're too cold to refuse it, but she seems undaunted by the freezing temperature anyway. After about 20 more minutes of brutal bone-chilling algid, you begin to heat up again. To the point where you can't even stand having the over coat on. You give it back to Nepeta, who may or may not be asleep. She takes it, and you confirm she's still awake. 20 more minutes, you're freezing again and Nepeta offers you her coat. 20 minutes again, you're too hot to sleep with the coat.

This repeats itself a few times before Nepeta sits up, and stares at you irritatedly. She takes one look at you shivering and her face softens. She sits you upright, puts the coat on your legs, and gives you her hat to use as a pillow. Normally, you'd be enthralled to use her hat, it's very dear to her. But all you think about is how her hat smells vaguely of catnip, and flowers. You hear her saying something, but it sounds distant like someone is shouting through a glass window. You concentrate on what she's saying and pick up a few lines.

"Gamzee, you must be having a relapse furrom that stupid arm wound. I knew it would get infected and make you sick again. Ugh! I should have paid more attention to it! I'll contact someone on your husktop to find out if anyone knows anything about diseases. Something tells me Sollux or Kanaya would know a lot about treating things like that."

You can hear her continue to blab, but concentrating on single words is not happening, so instead you hear only sentences running together becoming an odd slurry of words. The noise stops after awhile, and Nepeta has gone. Panic floods you. Where did she go? Why did she leave you? Is she okay? Moments later she returns, your husktop in her grasp. She sits down next to you and mumbles something about conserving fuel. She logs onto trollian, and it looks like she's contacted Kanaya.

**terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]**

**TC: **:33 hey kanaya!

**GA: **Hello

**GA: **Gamzee

**GA: **"?"

**TC: **:33 h33 h33 nope, it's me, nepeta!

**GA: **I Would Have Thought So

**GA: **Youre Typing Quirk Makes It Painfully Obvious

**TC: **:33 yup, i'm just so used to using it :33

**GA: **Is There Any Reason In Particular That Youve Decided To

Contact Me Through Gamzees Account

**TC: **:33 yeah, he got sick :((

**TC: **:33 purrobably furrom a post infected wound

**TC: **:33 i was wondering if you knew how to treat fefurs

**GA: **That Is Most Unfortunate

**GA: **And Yes I Have Somewhat Extensive Knowledge In The Fields Of Medicine

**GA: **Are There Any Other Symptoms Besides A Fever

**TC: **:33 he's hot one minute, then the next he's freezing

**GA: **So Hot Flashes And Chills

**TC: **:33 yes, and he might be a little delirious

**TC: **:33 i can't really tell :((

**GA: **Im Sorry To Be The Bringer Of Bad News

**GA: **But Theres Nothing I Nor You Can Do For Him

**TC: **:33 are you sure?

**GA: **Absolutely

**GA: **The Medicines Or Drugs That Would Take The Fever Away Cannot Be Purchased Anymore Due To Obvious Factors

**GA: **I Suggest Putting A Cool Soaked Rag On His Forehead And Making Sure He Drinks Plenty Of Fluids

**GA: **Other Than That Nothing Else Will Do

**GA: **Unless A Mediocre Drug Store Appearifys In The Middle Of An Island

**TC: **:33 oh, okay, thank you for the help anyway

**GA: **My Pleasure

**TC: **:33 and kanaya

**TC: **:33 what did you and gamz33 talk about?

**TC: **:33 he acted all funny again

**GA: **Ive Been Sworn To Secrecy

**GA: **Though It Would Be Much Easier For The Both Of Us If I Could Just Tell You

**TC: **:33 then tell me! i purromise not to tell him you said it

**GA: **He Has Only Relinquished The Information To Me

**GA: **When Or If He Tells Someone Else Then I May Reconsider

**TC: **:33 that's not fur!

**GA: **How Is It Not Deemed Fair

**TC: **:33 i want to know what's wrong with him, so i can help him get better

**GA: **Oh Nepeta It Is Much More Complicated Than That You Really Have No Idea

**TC: **:33 ugh! now you're doing it too!

**GA: **Doing What

**TC: **:33 treating me like a child

**TC: **:33 only gamz33 and equius talk to me like im the same age

**GA: **Nepeta I Did Not Mean It In That Way At All

**GA: **If You Knew It Would Only Stress You Out Considerably

**GA: **But Life Would Be Easier If He Were Not So Stubborn

**TC: **:33 i'll get it out of him befur we get to jade's island, i swear

**GA: **I Have A Feeling You Will Succeed

**GA: **And Will You Do Me A Quick Favor

**TC: **:33 sure, what do you need?

**GA: **Relay A Message To Gamzee For Me

**GA: **Tell Him Hell Get Better If He Just Opens Up

**TC: **:33 um, okay

**TC: **:33 i bet he'll know what you mean

**GA: **Yes He Will

**TC: **:33 thanks again fur the help kanaya

**TC: **:33 you should really start charging people for therapy sessions h33 h33! :33

**GA: **I Dont Think I Would Charge My Friends For Advice

**GA: **But If We Ever Escape Such A Dreaded Place You Can Be Sure I Will Not Hesitate To Open A Therapy Business

**GA: **Anyway Im Must Take My Leave

**GA: **Its Getting Dark And As You Know Light Tends To Draw The Hordes Of Undead

**TC: **:33 oh, right! good luck :33

**GA: **To You Too

**GA: **Youll Need It

**grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC**]

You have read bits of the chat; your level of understanding ranged from, I have no idea what they're typing - to - I have a simple understanding of what they're typing. Nepeta shakes you a little to get your attention. You turn your head a few degrees to signal you're listening.

"Kanaya told me to relay a message for her. Are you listening?" She asks. She sounds worried, and exhausted. Much different from her normally cheerful voice.

"Yeah, I'm all up and getting my listen on."

"She said you'll get better if you open up. I'm not sure what she means by that, but I bet you'll know anyway."

You know exactly what she means. You flash back to Kanaya saying that if you don't confess you'll feel sick to you're very bones. You decide that yes, telling her would probably be best. But it still doesn't feel right yet. Oh well.

Tomorrow you will tell her, and even though she doesn't feel the same way at least it'll be off of your chest. She looks at you sympathetically, and tears off a bit of her T-shirt. She runs to a small pool of water, soaks the rag, and then runs back to you. She makes you lie down on your back, and puts the rag on your forehead. Even though you're chilled to the bone, the rag feels nice and your temperature returns to fairly normal, if not still a little cold. She curls up by you, and uses her overcoat as a blanket. You're warming up again, so you don't mind. Finally, exhaustion takes over and you fall into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>- Shadowcyrse - <strong>Hope this satiated your anxiety! And sorry about that, you were outvoted umu

**- NoxUmbra - **Sweet uvu I apologize if you sent me a message, my PC crashed a few days ago. After a PC Recovery Skype doesn't want to cooperate, so it might take a few days before I can get it running. Thank you!

**- AlfenBloodMage - **What a sweet review, thanks! Sorry 'bout it, you were outvoted. I'll keep up the writing for sure umu

**- Nami Uchiha 1313 - **Thank you so much! It's completely fine, it's just a little discouraging to get less reviews when you're used to a ton, y'know? And congrats, KarTer is now *canon* in this fic uvu

**- DerpyHooves - **That username is perf haha. And, actually I'm *pretty* sure you're wrong! Aradia doesn't use O's in her emoticons, she uses 0_0 - but only when she's dead/robot/. She only used 0u0 once, and said it looked stupid. I've never seen her use 0n0 before either. Plus, god-tier Aradia uses other emoticons other than 0_0 because she's ~*alive*~. But, I don't mind the nit-pickiness, thank you! uou

**- quiet-spectator - **Thank you so much! Gosh, that's a relief haha. Fluff is surprisingly hard to write. Oh, and congrats, KarTer is a ship in this fic for sure!

**- Blah - **Will do!

**- imarriedapineapple - **Omfg all these great usernames. Thank you so much, great review! Thanks to your vote, KarTer is ~*canon*~ in this fic hehe. Glad you like it umu

**- wombat - **Thanks!I will love you 5ever if you draw fanart for this. I would, but I'm pretty busy with other projects /SIGN

**- u - **come in2 my arms babbu

**- Moar plz - **HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER. And sure, I was planning on writing for them anyway!


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: GOOD NEWS! I came into possession of a Mac, writing and editing is much more easy! There are no unexpected crashes, or formatting issues. Really, it's great for writing. Expect more frequent chapters from now on.**

**This is pretty much the peak in romance for now, it just goes downhill into more plot and a lot more gore until later chapters. So I tried my absolute hardest this chapter to make sure that Gamzee and Nepeta were both in character as possible, I've edited this section the most out of the entire story so far. Hopefully I didn't butcher the characters too much ahaha,,**

**Oh, and I wanted to thank all my lovely reviewers, thank you so much for the skyrocket in reviews! I think I got 14 on the last chapter alone? Keep them coming! I reached over 50,000 words this break because of all your kind words, not as much as I had hoped, but I was surprisingly busy this break. I'll continue writing at the pace I can until summer break (hopefully)**

**I would also appreciate it if people would stop commenting on the fact that there are no main homosexual pairings in this AU, just because I'm not writing for any currently doesn't mean I'm not comfortable with them! If you paid close attention there's lots of subtle blackrom with Eridan and Sollux. I'm also taking pairing REQUESTS for THIS CHAPTER ONLY. Meaning if you want a pairing for me to write for (subtly though), review on this chapter only! Reviews on other chapters won't be taken into account, unless you've already requested before this chapter was posted.**

**Please note if you do request, I can't really write for pairings that interfere with the main ones, ie pbj, or karnep, please keep that in mind!**

**On an ending note, I'd like to *warn* you of chapters much much later, I've designed several OCs for plot purposes ONLY. There will be no pairings, none of them will survive for very long, and they will all be humans. There will only be a few, and again they will only be added for plot purposes and information relative to the virus.**

**Review if you enjoyed the story, and thank you again for the positive feedback.**

* * *

><p><strong>=== The next morning<strong>

You wake up the next morning. You feel a tad better, you have achieved a consistent body temperature. But your headache still pounds, reminding you of last night. Yeah, today you would tell her. You're still not sure how. But it'll come to you, things luckily just tend to do that. Nepeta is skinning the fur off of the last antlerbeast. You again wonder how she can stand that. You take the sodden rag off of your forehead, and walk over to her.

She meows in greeting, and holds out some red antlerbeast meat. You shake your head, you're not hungry. She chats with you between bites of food. "How are you feeling this meowrning?"

"A bit motherfucking better. How about you?"

"I'm fine! I slept furry well last night hee hee. Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"

"I'm good, I don't really feel like eating today." Which is true, you're not hungry. Or maybe it's just that you're sick of raw animal meat. She gives you a condescending look. You roll your eyes, and sit down next to her. You then notice a drawing, almost hidden by stalactites. It looks like Nepeta, and Equius. A diamond shape is drawn between them. You recall how she loved to make up relationships for everyone, and draw them out on the walls. Some of them had been scarily accurate, and others were just plain ridiculous.

"Did you all up and draw that?" You ask her. Even though the answer is obvious, it will at least give you something to talk about.

"Hee hee yes! It's me and Equius, we're the best of meowrails. I just decided to re-draw that panel furrom my shipping wall. Do you ship anyone?"

"Nah, I'm not into that kind of thing. I don't even really know what shipping means."

Nepeta gasped as if she'd been physically struck. "Really? You don't know?" She exclaims in shock, like she expected you to know.

"Nope, but I know you draw pictures, and use quadrants and shit."

"Oh there's so much meowre to it than that though! Shipping is supporting two people you like romantically! You can ship real people, or fictional characters. You can ship whatever, things that have real potential, things that are cemented in reality, or even things that just make no sense at all! As long as you're happy shipping them." She babbles, clearly overjoyed talking to you about it.

"That sounds pretty motherfucking cool, actually. Who do you ship? Besides Equius, and you of course."

"Oh gosh I have so many ships! A few of my furravites are Aradia and Equius, Fefuri and Sollux, Karcat and You, it really goes on awhile!"

You laugh and say, "You ship me?"

"Well of course! I ship all of our furriends. I can draw you some of my ships if you want."

"Sure, but, try to draw them in something other than animal blood, okay?"

"I have some of Terezi's chalk leftover in my sylladex, you could even draw some ships too."

"I'm not the best artist, but I can try."

She removes the chalk from her sylladex, and a few pieces of shiny white paper. She hands you a few sheets, and then lies down in a more comfortable position. She puts the chalk box in between you two, selects a piece of teal and immediately beings to work. You pick an olive green colour, and set off to draw.

Drawing, in short is a lot harder than you thought. Especially trolls, they're even more difficult than you expected. Your hand travels in sloppy movements, and wobbly lines are created. The character's body is a lop-sided. You can't help but feel discouraged.

You sneak a glance at Nepeta, who is actually humming happily as she draws. You think that if she can be so happy drawing, than so can you. You stop concentrating on the flaws, and focus on just finishing. As you finish the character, a thought hits you. Yep, this is it. This is how you will tell her.

You pick an indigo coloured chalk, similar to your own blood colour, and begin drawing again. More minutes pass ;then you pick the red chalk. You survey your work. It's definitely not the best. The lines are wobbly from the uneven surface of the cave, and you don't have a steady hand for writing to begin with. There is no muscle on the limbs, just sticks. Crude symbols are drawn. But you spent a long time drawing it ;you hope that your hard work doesn't go to waste.

You see she's still distracted, drawing what appears to be Karkat, and Terezi. You quickly cover your paper up, you'll present it to her later. You decide to draw Tavros and that Jade girl, they'd always gotten along nicely. You pick the orange and electric lime chalk colours, and concentrate on drawing. You draw with each other for hours, occasionally showing off your pieces, and complimenting them.

You talk to Nepeta about basically anything while drawing, anything, and everything. You talk to her about how your lusus was never really around, which she thought was just the most horrible thing ever, but you didn't really mind since you didn't know any better at the time. She talks to you about her lusus Pounce De Leon, and how she was the best lusus ever. She talks to you about her hive, how she sorely misses her shipping wall, and her cozy evenings spent curled up chatting with her friends.

You chat about your hive too, and end up feeling a little homesick. Sopor slime wasn't hard to come by, through ectobiology and whatnot, (It was a good thing you had a punch-card of some pies left) but it was hard to transport in your current situation. Added to the fact that Jade can only make one or two pies at a time. She says she's also homesick for her hive, or just Alternia in general. It sure wasn't the friendliest or easiest place to live, but this new infected world made Alternia look like paradise.

Your conversations change direction hectically, spiraling from hives, to lussi, to just general questions. Favorite colours, foods, hobbies, etc. Her favourite colour is green, because it reminds her of her blood, and the lush forests she hunted in. Her favourite food is, well, meat because she says it reminds her of steak, even raw. Her hobbies included, drawing, hunting, and friendly role-playing.

You talk about yours, you like indigo; you suspect it's your favorite because it's the colour of your blood, like Nepeta. You'll eat almost anything, but faygo, and sweet baked goods are preferred. You liked trying to ride your unicycle, collecting seashells on your beach, and baking.

Eventually shifts to her moirail, and tells you funny stories about how Equius would get angry, and break things. She tried telling you a particularly funny story, but ended up laughing so hard she was in tears, and couldn't finish it. You laugh hard too, her giggles are contagious. You both finally calm down, and you tell her stories about Karkat's rage quits. Like how he exploded his computer multiple times because he couldn't figure out the right code. Or how you would say "miracles" and he would flip his shit, and lecture you for hours about how much you piss him off. You notice though, that when talking about Karkat, there is a tint of sadness in her eyes. You change the subject to something unrelated, to the problem of getting off of this island. Your arm is almost completely healed, but the headache and sudden fever has you worried. You explain to that to her, and she nods in concern. She says that as long as your fever stays down, you and her could leave tomorrow or the day after. You agree, and hope that the headache soon goes away too. Though spending this much time with her, you didn't really notice it.

You decide to tell each other funny stories to pass time, and in order to take your mind off both of your worries. You tell her stories about accidentally scaring yourself when you stepped one of your horns. You've rid yourself of them awhile ago, but the story gets her laughing so much she's teared up. She relaxes, and tells you stories about her first role-playing days, when she was a "noob" and was really bad at it. The story itself doesn't make a lot of sense to you, but the way she tells it is enough to get you rolling on the ground in laughter.

You both continue trying to get each other to laugh for the next following hours. Eventually Nepeta is clutching her stomach, and says she'll burst at the seams if she laughs anymore. You take this as a challenge. You tickle her, she shrieks and yells at you to stop. You ignore her protests, so she decides to take matters into her own hands. She pushes you off with surprising strength, and 'counter-tickles'. You wage war for a few minutes, before collapsin in exhaustion. She's still giggling hysterically and olive tears pricking her eyes. She props herself up, still laughing quietly to herself.

She tries calming herself down by collecting the chalk, and she organizes her drawings. You help her collect remaining scattered pieces of chalk. When you spy a certain piece of paper, your stomach does that funny wrenching thing that it did a few nights ago. You casually pick it up. She's stacked the paper, and captchalogued the chalk. You suppose it's now or never.

You nonchalantly hold the paper up to yourself, and say, "Huh, I found a drawing I guess I forgot to all up and show you." You hand the paper to her, and busy yourself with tying your already tied shoelaces. Your feel like your gut is being stabbed with anxiety, so fierce that you actually feel sick. The now familiar feeling of blood rushing to your face returns. The headache has come back now, throbbing, and you try not to wince. The one or two minutes that pass by, feel like hours. You glance quickly at Nepeta, her entire face has turned an olive green colour. Her cat-like eyes are widened, the pupils narrowed down to tiny slits. You look at her expectantly. She doesn't even acknowledge you. She just keeps staring intensely at the drawing, as if trying to memorize it.

She shakes her head a little, to clear her thoughts. She slowly tilts her head up at you. You look away, you look anywhere but her eyes. She finally says something, though it sounds dry and her voice is dripping with shock.

"You really feel this way?"

"Yeah. . . it explains why I've been acting weird, I guess." You force the words out.

She shyly smiles, and pulls you into a tight hug. You have a miniature heart attack; then slowly hug her back when your think pan starts working again. You're not sure what to make of it, she hasn't rejected you but she still hasn't said yes. "So, is a hug a yes then?

She nods vigorously, and says yes. It's kind of muffled though, she has her face pressed against your chest, and you think she might be stifling either laughter or sobs. You're positively bewildered, you were sure she was going to say no in the first place. But she said yes, and it's still taking a few moments for it all to sink in. Happiness and relief overwhelms you. In the back of your mind, your headache is ebbing away.

You hug for awhile, before she yawns. The sun had set long ago, and she must be very tired right now. You lead her back to the cavern, and her head hits the soft sand almost as soon as you walk in. You lie down next to her, and she lazily takes her overcoat off. She snuggles right up against you, and pulls the overcoat over her shoulders. You close your eyes, and sleep peacefully for the first time since arriving here.

* * *

><p><strong>-Shadowcyrse - Thanks for reviewing all these chapters! I would love any kind of fanart, haha. And I own that game, unfortunately it's an old version and it doesn't run on Macs.<strong>

**-NoxUmbra - I won't have to worry about those anymore! Here have some more feels to go with that upset. Thanks! Kanaya is so much fun to write for, I love her personality.**

**-Purrple and Gr33n - Actually, I don't mind slash/femslash at all! It just happens my OTPs aren't homo. I wouldn't mind at all, I've started writing some for you.**

**-Nami Uchicha 1313 - You're welcome! Thank you for the review**

**-El - Yeah, I can't say I've seen many fics like this haha. It may change in the future though, do to me taking requests.**

**-Rathlyn - I like it, it reminds me of my last name. Thank you! I haven't watched the Walking Dead in awhile, but I do know what you mean by not letting it get too shippy. After this chapter it will be pretty much nothing but plot for awhile.**

**-0u0 - Thanks! Yes good.**

**-Discouraging - Not sure if you mean "Gamzee stop being sick" or "Gamzee youre OOC stop"**

**-Mewmew - Thank you so much! You didn't really specify a pair, and matesprit is out of the question since I've already established that with Jade. How about some kismesis VriskaTavros?**

**-ddrgrl21 - I will keep writing, thank you!**

**-June - Thanks! Will do**

**-moirail - Wow, thanks! UuU Kanaya is actually my favourite character to write for, she has great vocabulary.**

**-gamnep - Omg yes please. Can you send me the link through fanmail on my tumblr? It's .com. If not, then Skype. And thanks!**

**-harmonic ladybug - Ladybug no,,, here are some more updates. He hasn't appeared yet, but I can assure you he will! He's actually the last character that will be introduced, I've been avoiding him because I can't write his character for the life of me. **


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: WOOPS Sorry for not updating last week! I was going to update on 4/13 but I was out at the mall the entire day. Before I begin, lots of people who add me on skype have been asking how old I am, to answer your question I turned 14 about 2 weeks ago! :o**

**In apology I uploaded two bits together, making the longest chapter yet by far. Writing for all the characters in these chapters was tough, I rarely write for Equius if ever, so I tried to keep Nepeta's chat with him short, and to the point. I also tried to keep their bitter arguments, as they often fight in the comic. Seriously I have no idea why people think they're the best moirails ever, if you read most of their chats it's either them arguing or Equius scolding Nepeta. I really do love writing for Karkat and Kanaya though, in one of my headcanons I think they'd make the best gossipers, obviously shown in the chapters. And, gain fanfiction for some reason doesn't allow the arrow key so in som of the logs when there's a blank space, it should be the moirail symbol, or just a '3' there should be a heart. Please imagine the most kawaii of kokoros in the blank space. **

**GET READY FOR MORE PLOT, YEAH. No seriously, I'm working on it. To let people know in advance, Tavros and Equius will be introduced last because I can't write for them very well, and I'd like to put off their introductions for awhile. I'd also like to warn people that in the future chapters, things are going to get more intense and gorey, definitely more zombies and wounds. I'm not going to change the rating, since there's nothing too explicit but I just don't want anyone to get grossed out without warning.**

**Oh, and I've gotten the first fanart! FF doesn't allow links, but it's by NekoMichii on deviantart. You can search 'Gamnep' and her's will be the second result.**

**Once again, thank you guys so much for all the wonderful reviews! They mean a lot, and especially to the people who dont' even like GamNep (How are you even reading this omg,,) Please continue reviewing as normal, and more chapters will be uploaded! **

**I've taken the requests (what little there were) and I will be writing for them soon.**

**- Eridan/Feferi**

**- Equius/Aradia Kismesis**

**Review if you enjoyed the chapter!**

* * *

><p><strong>== Be Nepeta Leijon<strong>

You are now Nepeta Leijon. You wake up, stretch, and almost slap Gamzee in the face. You forgot you fell asleep right by him. You carefully remove yourself from his grip, and silently stand up. A breeze runs down your back, and you involuntarily shiver. The cave is colder than it's ever been. It seems like Gamzee's fever has gone down, and you decide that when he wakes up you'll leave the island on the boat.

You walk to the cave entrance, and go outside. There is a silence you haven't heard on the island yet. The sky is filled with darkened clouds, and you feel your hair frizz out in the rising humidity. You watch flashes of brilliant white light far away, it was going to storm soon. You jump through the trees inside the forest, but there's barely anything alive outside. You manage to snare a thin rabbit, and a grouse. You take your jacket, the humidity warming the air up, you decide to spend some time reflecting before the storm hits and you'll be cooped up in the cave again.

You climb up a tree nearby, a weeping willow that has long concealing leaves. You put the prey in some branches higher up. You wonder how you're going tell your moirail Equius about your. . .relationship with Gamzee. You recall the adorable picture he'd drawn for you. It was just a simple picture, of you and him. Not much different from the pictures you drew on your shipping wall. There was a tiny red heart between you two, and at the very bottom of the page was simply, "i LoVe YoU". It was odd, Gamzee always had a way of getting right to the point. There was no clever joke, or sappy love poem written on it. Just a simple question, and you'd said yes. He even used the word love, the one that had caused you so much emotion in the past sweeps.

You try figuring out why you said yes. You thought you'd only felt this way for Karkat, but, he'd rejected you. Maybe this is your way of moving on. Yet, that bitter-sweet feeling of love you'd felt toward Karkat is what you're feeling now, towards Gamzee. Do you love him? After some quiet consideration, you come to the conclusion that you. You swoon, and almost fall off the tree. The feeling of finally being with the one you love is amazing. You hang upside-down from the tree, staring at the brilliant blue sky. You hang for awhile, feeling peaceful until you start feeling a little dizzy. You sit up, grab the prey, and head back to the cave.

You step inside the living cavern, as you've decided to call it. Gamzee is sitting on a flat rock, attempting to clean one of his clubs. His brow is knitted in concentration as he scrubs with a wet bit of old T-shirt. You prowl over to him unseen, silent until the last moment of attack. You jump and land right on his back. The air leaves his body in an "Oof!" and you giggle affectionately. He chuckles, and rights himself. You perch next to him ;he gives you a peck on the cheek. You nuzzle his shoulder playfully. He grabs the rag and starts cleaning the club again, content to let you rest by his side. When he finishes cleaning, he captchalogues the club, and drapes his arm over your shoulder. You sit with each other for awhile, simply enjoying a few moments of peace.

Eventually, you have to pull away. There's work to be done if you want to get off this island, and if the storm is bad you'll need rations. You tell him to start packing whatever things he might need, and to maybe try washing his hair when it rains, since its starting to become matted with dried blood and sweat. He nods in understanding, and starts gathering things he brought to the island. You watch him captchalogue a spare T-Shirt, identical to the one he's wearing, a few more clubs lying around, and his husktop. He saunters off to another tunnel, one that leads to a small hot spring, most likely to wash his hair. You captchalogue a few other items, a spare pair of gloves, several replacement claws, two blue cat themed shoes, the very last of the antlerbeast, and your husktop.

On second thought, you remove the husktop. You decide you should tell Equius about your newly filled quadrant. You go online, and you're relieved to see he is too.

**arsenicCatnip [AC] began trolling centaursTesticle [CT]**

**AC:** :33 *the furriendly meowrail lopes toward the big meowscular meowrail*

**AC:** :33 *then she curls up beside him and purrs, because she has good news*

**CT:** D- Nepeta normally I w001d scold you on lack of etiquette, but your apparent good news has piqued my interest

**CT:** D- Please, continue

**AC:** :33 h33 h33 you are pawsitively silly

**CT:** D- Says the little girl pretending to be a mythical feline

**AC:** :33 centaurs are meowthical too :((

**CT:** D- Centaurs are fine beasts and it would behoove you to say so accordingly

**AC:** :33 equius you know you're the only one who likes that kind of stuff

**CT:** D- Which is really quite depressing

**CT:** D- Anyway

**CT:** D- You said you have good news

**CT:** D- Feel free to enlighten me

**AC:** :33 weeeelll i filled another quadrant!

**AC:** :33 but you purrobably won't appurrove :((

**CT:** D- I command you to be more specific

**CT:** D- And perhaps tell me which quadrant

**AC:** :33 it's matespurritship :33

**CT: **D- Ah, the joys of pity

**CT:** D- It is my duty to give you advice or, feeling jams, as one might say

**AC:** :33 thanks equius! :33

**CT:** D- Tell me who your matespritship is with

**AC: **:33 umm well

**AC:** :33 okay, but please don't get mad at me

**AC:** :33 it's gamz33

**CT:** D- That is

**CT:** D- Oh my

**CT:** D- I require a towel

**CT:** D- That is, quite unexpected

**AC:** :33 yeah, i thought you'd say that :((

**CT:** D- I can justly say I was unprepared for such an answer

**CT:** D- Especially with the highb100d

**CT:** D- But I digress

**CT:** D- I forbid you from having romantic affairs with him

**AC:** XOO what?

**CT:** D- You read my message clearly did you not

**CT:** D- I forbid it, end of story

**AC:** XOO of course i read it clearly!

**AC:** XOO but it's not your decision!

**AC:** XOO i didn't tell you just so you could undermine my decisions, and furbid the only thing that has made me happy these past few days :((

**CT:** D- Of course it is my decision

**CT:** D- I'm your moirail

**CT:** D- I'm only thinking of what's best for the both of us

**AC:** XOO the best for us? there is no 'us' in this equius! this is only me, and gamz33!

**CT:** D- There is no need for relationships at this time though, it will only get in way of your main objective, get to the human's island and secure your safety

**CT:** D- This will only complicate things, and turn out for the worst

**AC:** XOO if you have a purroblem with it, then fine! be unhappy about it, scold me efurry time we talk furrom now on, but it won't change a single damn thing.

**CT:** D- Watch your language Nepeta

**CT:** D- Fine, do as you wish

**CT:** D- But when this all blows over do not come crying to me

**AC:** XOO it's not going to just blow over!

**CT:** D- Yes it will

**AC:** XOO no it won't!

**CT:** D- Yes

**AC:** XOO no

**CT:** D- Yes

**AC:** XOO NO!

**AC:** :(( ugh, can we just not talk about this anymore now?

**CT:** D- You are the one who brought it up

**AC:** :33 that's beclaws i kind of have to :((

**AC:** :33 if you think gamz33 is going to hurt me, he's not

**AC:** :33 he's had tons of chances to do that already, he's not the gamz33 you remember

**CT:** D- You mean the insane and murderous highb100d

**AC:** :(( that was a long time ago

**CT:** D- I find it amusing that you've forgiven him so easily

**CT:** D- It won't do you or him any good by being together

**AC:** XOO it's done plenty of good fur me! i'm finally happy, why can't you see that?

**CT:** D- Happiness does not matter

**CT:** D- What matters is your safety

**AC:** :33 i can take care of myself, and gamz33 is here to back me up

**CT:** D- I was not talking about taking care of yourself

**CT:** D- You have a murderer for a matesprit

**AC:** :33 stop calling him that :((

**AC:** X(( why can't you call him by his name? try typing gamz33, and not something ridiculous like 'highb100d' or 'murderer'

**CT:** D- 'Gamzee'

**CT:** D- Are you happy yet

**AC:** :33 i told you, i already am happy

**AC:** :33 but you've made me sad and angry now :((

**AC:** :33 how come you won't support me?

**CT:** D- I just do not want to see you getting hurt

**AC: **:33 *ac sighs sadly because she wants her meowrail to understand and support her*

**CT:** D- I refuse to answer to that

**AC:** :33 whatefur equius, do what you want

**AC:** :33 i'm going to get off this island, and spend time with MY matespurrit

**AC:** :33 goodbye!

**arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling centaursTesticle [CT]**

You growl in frustration, and bite your hat. You walk to the edge of the cave, hoping that Gamzee will calm you down. Warm air from the cave opening blows your unruly hair around. Gamzee is sitting at the edge, watching the first drops of rain, and trying to comb through his hair unsuccesfully. You remove your coat and fold it carefully over a rock. You plop down next to him, roll up the sleeves of your coat, and sigh angrily. He leans on your shoulder, staring off into space. You lean back, and stare at the now heavy rain. You tear up, and wonder why your meowrail didn't support you. Gamzee looks at your concerned, and you bury your face into his chest. He ,

"You okay, Chica? What's got you upset?"

You sniff and take a deep breathe. Everything bubbles into your mind and you babble the entire story in one long string of words. "I told Equius how we're matesprits now and he tried furbidding me from being with you and he doesn't support me at all, but he's SUPPOSED to, because he's my meowrail and I don't understand why and he was being so frustrating an-" You cut off there, unable to continue. You quietly cry, hugging him tightly. He continues patting your hair, and murmurs a few words of reassurance.

"Well you know Equius, he's a stubborn motherfucker, and you can't change who he's all up and being. If he's got a problem, then there's not much we can do. He can't stop us though, he's almost halfway across the world. It's only you and me here, you don't need to worry about that shit."

You're comforted by his words, but can't shake the feeling that Equius would scold you at the island pretty badly. You nod feebly, and sit up. You squeeze the water out of your hat that's gotten wet from water dripping down the sides of the cave. Gamzee squeezes the remaining water out of his hair, and stands up as well. After drying off you both head back to the main cavern. You both shiver, the sudden frigid air contrasting the humid air from the storm. Thunder begins to boom in the distance.

You button your overcoat up, and pull your hat down. Your breathe comes out in visible puffs. Gamzee is shivering, only wearing a worn T-shirt, and light sweat pants. You silently agree it's time to go. You step outside the cave, and blink in amazement. The rain has stopped, for the time being. Still, lightning crackles in the distance; thunder shakes the ground again.

"We should purrobably get going." You prompt.

"Yeah, I don't want to be here when the storm starts up again."

You lead him back to the boat. It looms precariously, casting a large shadow. You walk around to the side, and start climbing up the ladder. Gamzee follows you, slowly and trying not to strain his arm. He leads you inside, and you wrinkle your nose. There are several carcasses lying about the hallway. You raise your eyebrow at him, and he simply shrugs in response. You stare, and he leads you to a large room in the front of the boat that overlooks the island. There's only one body in there, a man slumped over on a wall with a white cap on his head. Dried blood cakes the wall behind him. He looks like he used to be the captain. Gamzee plops down onto the captain's chair and starts pressing random buttons, until he hits one that makes the boat rattle and then start up. He takes the wheel and spins it all the way around. The boat lurches and begins to move. The coordinates are still plugged in, and the ship sails along smoothly. Now that the boat is on it's way, Gamzee pulls out his husktop, and begins typing.

"Who're you meowssaging?" You ask curiously, and lean over the chair watching him type.

"My bro Karkat, I figure I should let my moirail know what's going on." He replies

"Oh." You wrinkle your nose. You're still upset with Karkat. You turn away, but curiosity entices you, and you peek at the conversation out of the corner of your eye.

**terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

**TC:** hEeEeY mY bEsT bRo. :o)

**CG:** GAMZEE! WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN.

**CG**: WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS, YOU CAN'T JUST NOT TALK TO ME FOR DAYS ON END. IT'S NOT HOW MOIRAILS WORK.

**TC:** sOrRy, I'vE bEeN bUsY. oH, aNd I gOt SoMe NeWs FoR yOu!

**CG:** BEEN BUSY WITH WHAT? AND WHAT NEWS? THIS HAD BETTER BE FUCKING GOOD.

**TC:** Oh, y'KnOw, jUsT mOtHeRfUcKiNg SuRvIvInG aNd ShIt.

**CG:** OKAY, BUT WHAT'S THE NEWS?

**CG:** IS IT GOOD OR BAD?

**TC:** dEpEnDs On HoW yOu LoOk At It.

**TC:** I gOt A qUaDrAnT fIlLeD. :0)

**CG:** WHAT

**CG:** YOU _WHAT_

**CG:** HOW?

**CG:** WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING END OF THE WORLD, AND YOU'RE FILLING QUADRANTS? WHY DIDN'T YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS EARLIER? ARE YOU JUST FUCKING WITH ME?

**CG:** WELL HAHA GAMZEE, IT WAS A CLEVER JOKE I ADMIT IT

**CG:** BUT THE JIG IS UP, AND I'M NOT LAUGHING.

**TC**: i'M nOt JoKiNg ThOuGh, AnD, YeAh MaYbE i ShOuLdA tOlD yOu FiRsT. bUt, It JuSt HaPpEnEd ReAlLy FaSt.

**CG:** ALRIGHT, WHATEVER. WHO'S THE PARTNER? AND WHICH FUCKING QUADRANT.

**TC:** PrOmIsE yOu WoN't Be DoUcHeY aBoUt It?

**CG:** SINCE WHEN AM I EVER DOUCHEY?

**CG:** OH

**CG:** SURE, SURE, JUST TELL ME ALREADY.

**TC:** :o\

**CG:** OKAY, OKAY, I'LL TRY NOT TO BE 'DOUCHEY' ABOUT IT.

**TC:** iT's WiTh NePeTa, MatEsPrItShIp.

**CG:** LKAJSGFLIEJSDGPOIS

**TC:** YoU oKaY, bRo?

**CG:** JRHHDGKXJNVLDSIGJKPOISDPGOI

**TC:** uM.

**CG:** NO, I'M FINE. I JUST, SLAMMED MY HEAD INTO MY KEYBOARD AT YOUR COMPLETE AND UTTER LACK OF SELF-CONTROL.

**CG:** DID YOU THINK THIS THROUGH AT ALL, AT FUCKING *ALL*.

**CG:** DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED? DO YOU NEED ME TO SHOOSH-PAP YOUR ASS AGAIN, BECAUSE SO HELP ME I'LL DO IT. NO MATTER HOW FAR AWAY I AM.

**TC:** i'M nOt GoInG tO hUrT hEr! :o(

**TC: **I'm FiNe, I dOn'T nEeD cAlMiNg DoWn Or AnYtHiNg.

**CG:** HOW DID THIS EVEN HAPPEN?

**CG:** DOES SHE EVEN RECIPROCATE THE FEELINGS?

**TC:** sHe DoEs, SiNcE sHe DiD sAy YeS.

**CG:** BUT WHY? I THOUGHT SHE DIDN'T LIKE YOU, OR WAS AT LEAST APATHETIC. WAIT, DON'T TELL ME, YOU BONDED OVER SOME TRAGICALLY PLAYED OUT SCENARIO THAT CONSISTS OF CHEESY ROMANTIC SHENANIGANS.

**CG:** I KNOW THERE WAS SOME MIND-BOGGLINGLY HORRENDOUSLY STUPID ROMANCE THAT BETIDED.

**TC:** Aw CoMe On, I kNoW yOu LoVe ChEeSy RoMaNtIc ShIt.

**CG:** I DO NOT, I HAPPEN TO HAVE VERY REFINED TASTES IN MY MOVIES

**TC:** I DiDn'T sAy AnYtHiNg AbOuT mOvIeS.

**CG:** DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT, WE NEED TO DEAL WITH THIS NOW.

TC: wHaT's ThErE tO dEaL wItH?

**CG:** WELL, OBVIOUSLY WE NEED TO WORK OUT WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU ASKED HER.

**CG:** WHAT EXACTLY WERE YOU THINKING?

**TC:** I dOn'T sEe WhAt'S tHe BiG dEaL, uS bEiNg ToGeThEr DoEsN't HuRt AnYoNe.

**CG:** GAMZEE, SOMETIMES YOU ARE JUST FUCKING IGNORANT.

**TC:** dOn'T yOu FeEl ThE sAmE wAy AbOuT tErEzI?

**CG:** . . .

**CG:** THAT'S DIFFERENT.

**CG:** IT DOESN'T CONCERN YOU RIGHT NOW.

**TC:** ShOuLdN't It? WeRe MoIrAiLs, RiGhT? I nEeD tO bE gEtTiNg My PaIl On WhEn YoU nEeD iT.

**CG:** GODAMMIT STOP TAKING MY WORDS, GAMZEE.

**CG:** OH MY FUCK, OKAY, JUST DO WHATEVER MAKES YOU HAPPY.

**CG:** BUT PLEASE, PROMISE ME YOU WON'T DO ANYTHING RASH BECAUSE OF NEPETA.

**TC:** i ProMiSe. :o)

**CG:** AND, I KNOW I ALREADY SAID THIS, BUT BE CAREFUL OKAY? IF YOU FEEL THE NEED TO BEAT THE SHIT OF SOMEONE, THEN JUST TALK TO ME.

**CG:** OR KANAYA, SHE'S PRACTICALLY EVERYONE'S PALE MATE BY NOW.

**TC:** Aw DuDe, I tOlD yOu I'm GoOd. I cAn Go AwHiLe WiThOuT sOpOr NoW, aNd I'd NeVeR hUrT nEpEtA.

**CG:** I'M AWARE, THOSE FIRST FEW DAYS WERE ROUGH THOUGH.

**TC:** dOn'T rEmInD mE. If AnYtHiNg HaPpEnS i CaN jUsT aSk JaDe To TrAnSpOrT sOmE sLiMe.

**CG:** I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH SHE CAN TELEPORT. HER GOD TIER POWERS ARE PRETTY DAMN LIMITED.

**TC:** ShE cAn'T tElEpOrT oNe MoThErFucKiNg PiE?

**CG:** ONE PIE IS FINE, HECK MAYBE EVEN 20 PIES IS FINE. ALL SHE SAID IS THAT SHE CAN ONLY TELEPORT HERSELF, AND ONLY TO SPOTS ON HER ISLAND. AS WELL AS A FEW ITEMS, LIKE SOPOR.

**CG:** I REALLY NEED HER TO SPILL THE BEANS AND TELL ME THE STORY STRAIGHT.

**CG:** SHE CLAIMS SHE "DOESN'T WANT ME TO WORRY". SADDEST EXCUSE IN THE BOOK IF YOU ASK ME.

**TC:** hOw ArE yOu GoInG tO dO tHaT?

**CG:** I'M WORKING ON IT

**CG:** OH, AND ONE LAST THING.

**CG:** CAN YOU DO ME A FAVOUR?

**TC:** SuRe, WhAt Is It?

**CG:** TELL NEPETA I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN WHAT I SAID

**CG:** OR TYPED

**CG:** YOU KNOW WHAT IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER. I'M SORRY, I ACTED LIKE A JERK.

**TC:** i'Ll LeT hEr KnOw. :o)

**CG:** THANKS DUDE.

**CG:** I SHOULD GET GOING, BEING OUT IN THE OPEN TOO LONG ISN'T SAFE.

**CG:** YOU'RE A LUCKY FUCKER GAMZEE, I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT.

**CG:** SEEYA.

**TC:**

**CG:**

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

You're glad Gamzee's moirail was okay with it. Unlike a certain blue blood who shall remain anonymous because you're too angry to think about him.

"Karkat said he's motherfucking sorry and that he acted like a jerk."

"I know. I read the confursation." You say tautly.

"Are you gonna forgive him?" Gamzee asks expectantly. He looks hopeful, probably wanting you to let his friend off the hook. You narrow your eyes, and weigh your options. On one hand, Karkat lashed out at you due to his frustration. He hurt your feelings, and has caused you a lot of emotional turmoil these past few days. On the other hand, he did apologize, and he's under a lot of pressure. You sigh, and decide to forgive him. Everyone deserves a second chance.

"I suppose I can furgive him. I'll talk to him later, okay?"

Gamzee's grin makes your decision worth it. He nods in thanks, and looks ahead to the front of the boat, staring off in to space. You gaze out the same window, and the sea rushes past. It looks depressing, reflecting the grey sky. You can tell it's going to feel longer getting to the island than the wait actually is.

**== Be the disgruntled sleep deprived troll once again.**

Once again, you are Karkat Vantas. And you can't believe what your god damn moirail has gotten himself into this time. It just had to be Nepeta, didn't it? It could have been anyone, but he picked the autistic cat girl that had been in love with you since forever. You're still absolutely surprised she said yes to Gamzee, of all trolls. You make a mental note to talk to her later and make sure Gamzee isn't full of bull shit. The stress lately has been piling up on you. First Jade flipped out about everyone hating her, then Sollux up and nearly got himself killed, and now your moirail is dating the girl he murdered sweeps ago? You didn't do anything gruesome enough to deserve this. You look at the rest of your chums that are online, _adiosToreador, grimAuxiliatrix, ectoBiologist, _and _gallowsCalibrator _are online. Eager to talk to people that don't always make your piss come to a boil, you open chat windows with Kanaya, John, and Terezi.

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]**

**CG:** HEY, KANAYA

**CG:** CAN I TALK TO YOU ABOUT SOME SHIT?

**GA:** Of Course Karkat I Would Be Delighted

**CG:** OKAY FIRST, I WAS WONDERING, HOW COME YOU'RE ALWAYS ONLINE?

**CG:** PRACTICALLY EVERY TIME I NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO YOU'RE THERE.

**CG:** I MEAN, NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING, IT'S PRETTY NICE.

**CG:** BUT DO YOU EVER SLEEP?

**GA:** Not Really

**GA:** I Never Found Sleeping Easy After My Becoming A Rainbow Drinker

**GA:** Not To Mention I Quite Enjoy Soothing People

**GA:** I Feel As Though Im Fulfilling Some Ancient Path Set Down For Me By Caring For Others

**GA:** As Ridiculous As That Sounds

**GA:** And In Any Case My Advice And Ramblings Must Prove To Be Useful

**GA:** As You Continue To Come To Me Any Time Gamzee Is Preoccupied Or Unreachable

**CG:** OH, WELL, THANKS I GUESS. YEAH, SOMETIMES TALKING TO THAT LUMBERING ASSWAD CAN PROVE TO BE FRUITLESS. LIKE LAST TIME I TALKED TO HIM FOR EXAMPLE.

**CG:** I WANTED TO CONSULT YOU ON SOME ISSUES CONCERING HIM.

**GA:** And What Might That Be

**CG:** HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT HIS UHH. . .WHAT AM I SAYING HOW WOULD YOU EVEN KNOW.

**CG:** FUCK I SOUND LIKE TAVROS

**CG:** HIS, RELATIONSHIP, WHATEVER YOU CALL IT, WITH NEPETA

**CG:** YOU SEEM ALMOST OMNIPOTENT WITH THIS SORT OF SHIT

**CG:** ANY ADVICE?

**GA:** Yes Ive Caught Wind Of His Sickeningly Sweet Redrom

**GA: **He Informed Me After Pestering Him Some Time Ago

**GA:** As Did Nepeta When She Begged Me To Tell Her Why He Was Acting So Funny

**GA:** The Conversations Were Both Very Serious To Them But So Childishly Romantic To Me I Refrained From Giggling

**GA:** It Reminded Me Of One Of Your Romcoms

**CG:** WHY DOES EVERYONE BRING MY ROMCOMS INTO CONVERSATIONS, I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD THE TIME TO WATCH ONE IN ALMOST A FUCKING SWEEP

**CG:** WAIT

**CG:** HE WENT TO YOU ABOUT NEPETA FIRST?

**CG:** HE DIDN'T TALK TO ME FIRST?

**GA:** Oh Dont Take It The Wrong Way Karkat

**GA:** I Was Very Curious After Nepeta Talked To Me About Him

**GA:** I Simply Asked Him A Few Times To Let Me Know How He Was Feeling

**GA:** By That I Mean I Meddled As Usual

**CG:** BUT HE STILL TOLD YOU FIRST

**CG:** THAT FUCKING BUTTMUNCH

**CG:** JUST WAIT TILL HE GETS ONLINE AGAIN, I NEED TO HAVE A SERIOUS DISCUSSION WITH HIM ONCE A-FUCKING-GAIN.

**CG:** WELCOME TO WHAT I HAVE TO DEAL WITH KANAYA

**CG:** HE'S IMPOSSIBLE

**CG:** UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE.

**GA:** I Understand You May Be Upset Karkat

**GA:** But Your Timing Was Off Nothing More

**GA:** You Were Not Online And I Was Offering My Assistance With Something Very Important

**GA:** Do Not Scold Him Over A Small Timing Issue

**GA:** Im Sure If Youd Been Online Youd Be The First One To Talk To

**GA:** He Was Just Online A Few Minutes Ago And Did Not Even Bother Saying Hello

**CG:** ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT, I UNDERSTAND

**CG:** GOD I REALLY NEED TO STOP FUCKING DOING THIS, I CAN'T KEEP BLAMING OTHER PEOPLE FOR SHIT THEY CAN'T HELP. SORRY, KANAYA.

**CG:** TALK TO HIM WHENEVER, HE'S ALREADY ALMOST TOO MUCH FOR ME TO HANDLE AFTER ALL THIS.

**CG:** WHAT I'M REALLY WORRIED ABOUT IS, WHAT IF HE SNAPS AGAIN?

**CG:** I WON'T BE THERE, AND THE ONLY PERSON ON THAT BOAT IS NEPETA

**CG:** AND I DO NOT WANT A REPEAT OF WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME

**CG:** I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO

**GA:** Remain Calm Im Sure That Will Not Happen

**GA:** I Am Very Confident That He Has Been Weaning Himself More And More Off Sopor

**GA:** Without Side Effects This Time

**GA:** Give Him Space Karkat I Assume He And Nepeta Will Get To The Island In One Piece

**GA:** And If What You Say About Gamzee And Nepeta Finally Getting Together Then Im Sure Nepeta Will Have Some Control Over Him If He Snaps

**CG:** OKAY, OKAY. I JUST NEED TO BREATHE, DEEP BREATHES KARKAT.

**CG:** DEEP BREATHES

**GA:** My Are You Having An Episode

**CG:** NO, OF COURSE NOT. I DO NOT HAVE "EPISODES". LEADERS DO NOT HAVE EPISODES, THEY REMAIN CALM, AS YOU SAID, AND SORT OUT PROBLEMS WITH ACCURACY AND QUICK EFFECTIVENESS.

**CG:** BESIDES, GAMZEE IS FINE HE CAN'T HURT ANYONE OTHER THAN NEPETA ON THAT BOAT.

**CG:** OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENS IF HE SNAPS ON JADE'S ISLAND

**CG:** I GUESS ERIDAN WOULD DESERVE IT BUT WHAT IF HE HURTS JADE

**CG:** KANAYA

**CG:** YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY OF THE POSSIBLE OUTCOMES

**GA:** "Possible"

**GA: **"What If"

**GA:** You Are Having A Meltdown Karkat

**GA:** Youre Tired And Hungry And You Are Using Gamzees Past Mental Instability As An Excuse To Loose Control

**GA:** Please Get A Hold Of Yourself A Fearless Leader Like You Should Not Be Crying Over The Dress Of Such A Dainty Troll Like Myself

**GA:** Gamzee Is Fine

**GA:** Jade Is Fine

**GA:** Nepeta Is Fine

**GA:** Cease Worrying And Come To Terms That Youre Still Only A Child

**GA:** Youre Still Growing And You Need Rest

**GA:** Speak With Your Other Friends And Then Do Me A Big Favor

**CG:** YEAH, I, YOU'RE RIGHT. I APPRECIATE IT, A LOT. WHAT'S THE FAVOR?

**GA:** Get Some Well Deserved Rest And Stay Safe

**CG:** THANKS, I'LL DO THAT.

**CG:** AND SURE, I'LL BE SURE TO DO JUST THAT.

**GA:** Goodbye Karkat

**CG:** BYE KANAYA.

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA]**

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling ectoBiologist [EB]**

**CG:** HI DICKCLUSTER.

**EB:** dickcluster? haha, karkat i swear your curses get more and more creative each day!

**CG:** OF COURSE THEY DO, SINCE I SPEND ALL MY TIME JUST COMING UP WITH BRILLIANT INSULTS TO DEGRADE YOU WITH.

**CG:** WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, JOHN? AN IDIOT?

**EB:** woah boy, someone is in a shit-tastic mood!

**EB:** what's wrong? did someone get hurt? :(

**CG:** NO, WELL YES, SOLLUX DID BUT I KNOW HE'LL BE FINE.

**CG:** I'M WORRIED ABOUT MY STUPID AS FUCK MOIRAIL, I EVEN TALKED TO KANAYA BUT I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT.

**EB:** what's "it"? and, can you remind me a moirail is? I keep getting all the little symbols mixed up.

**CG:** YOU IGNORANT BUTTLICKER, I'VE EXPLAINED TO YOU A MILLION TIMES

**CG:** I'M NOT TELLING YOU AGAIN

**EB:** please?

**CG:** NO

**EB:** pleeeeeeeease?

**CG: I SAID NO GODAMMIT EGBERT**

**EB:** come on karkat! please?

**EB:** pretty please with sprinkles on top?

**CG:** NO!

**EB:** and cherries! i know you love cherries!

**CG:** I HATE CHERRIES.

**EB:** do you?

**EB:** do you reeeeeeeally?

**CG:** MY GOD STOP USING 8'S IN YOUR CONVERSATION EVERYONE KNOWS YOU'RE OBESSED WITH THE SPIDER BITCH YOU DON'T NEED TO RUB IT MY FACE.

**CG:** FINE, MOIRAIL IS THE PINK DIAMOND. IN YOUR OVERLY-COMPLICATED SINGLE SYMBOL SYSTEM IT MEANS BEST BROS. LIKE DIE FOR EACH OTHER BROS, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

**EB:** oh right, right! me and dave are like moirails then, right?

**CG:** I GUESS, I THINK IT'S A BIT MORE SERIOUS THAN YOU MAKE IT OUT TO BE.

**EB:** oh, sorry hehe.

**EB:** so why are you worrying about your moirail? and who was he again?**CG:** GAMZEE, THE ONE wHo TyPeS lIkE a ToOl, AND WEARS SPOTTED PANTS

**EB:** the clown dude! hehe, he's pretty funny when you talk to him! he kind of over-uses the word honk and motherfucker though.

**CG:** I KNOW, THAT'S KIND OF HIS QUIRK

**CG:** THE DUMBASS WAXED RED FOR NEPETA, AND SHE DID TOO, BY THE WAY, SHE'S THE GIRL WHO LOVED TO ROLEPLAY IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER.

**CG:** IN THE APOCALYPSE IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED

**EB**: wow, really? i didn't see that one coming!

**CG:** NO KIDDING

**EB:** but, if they're happy together then you should just leave them be.

**CG:** YOU DON'T GET IT

**CG:** GAMZEE KILLED HER AWHILE AGO IN THE VEIL

**CG:** HONESTLY I CAN'T REMEMBER IF I JUST NEVER TOLD YOU, OR IF YOU KEEP FORGETTING.

**EB:** i think i remember Jade telling me about that sometime, i never really thought about it! i haven't talked to gamzee much, so i wouldn't know. he seems like a chill guy.

**CG:** OH SURE, HE SEEMS LIKE IT AT FIRST

**CG:** BUT DEEP DOWN THAT GUY IS FUCKED UP

**CG:** YOU WEREN'T THERE

**EB:** okay karkat, i wasn't there. what are you so upset about? has he threatened her at all? have you spoke to him about what's bothering you?

**CG:** WELL, NO, NOT EXACTLY

**CG:** AND I DID, HE KIND OF GOT A LITTLE TICKED THAT I EVEN WOULD THINK HE'D HURT HER

**EB:** then what's there to worry about! support him, it's the least you can do. :D

**CG:** I AM TRYING, I LEGITIMATELY AM

**CG:** THANKS FOR LISTENING EGBERT.

**EB:** sure thing karkat! i'm always glad to help a friend out when i can. :)

**EB**: tell gamzee i said hi next time you talk to him!

**CG:** ALL RIGHT. IT WAS FUN CHATTING, SEEYA JOHN.

**EB:** bye!

**ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]**

**CG**: HI TEREZI

**GC:** H3333Y K4RKL3S :]

**GC:** HOW'S 1T GO1NG?

**CG:** FANTASTICALLY HORRIBLE

**GC:** OH TH4T SUCKS! TH3N 4G41N, 1T'S 4LMOST N3V3R 4NYTH1NG OTH3R TH4N F4NT4ST1C4LLY HORR1BLE 1S 1T?

**CG:** THIS TIME, I MEAN IT

**CG:** THINGS ARE HAPPENING TEREZI, AND I'M GETTING MYSELF WAY IN OVER MY HEAD.

**GC:** TH1NGS 4R3 H4PP3N1NG?

**GC:** J3GUS K4RK4T HOW LONG H4S 1T B33N S1NC3 YOU SL3PT :?

**CG: **IT DOESN'T MATTER

**CG:** WHAT MATTERS IS I'VE GOT TWO PROBLEMS I NEED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT

**GC:** W3LL GO 4H34D S1LLY H3H3H3H3H3H3

**GC:** WH4T S33MS TO B3 TH3 PROBL3MS?

**CG:** FIRST

**CG:** GAMZEE IS IN A REDROM WITH NEPETA

**CG:** SECOND

**CG:** SOLLUX HAS GOTTEN HURT AND HE'S ALL OUT OF AMMO

**CG:** I'M NOT TOO WORRIED ABOUT SOLLUX, HE CAN TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF

**CG:** HE DOESN'T NEED MY EMPATHY, AND NEITHER DO I.

**GC: **YOUR PR1OR1T13S 4R3 4 L1TTL3 FUCK3D UP K4RK4T

**GC:** SOLLUX M4Y B3 4 D4MN GOOD F1GHT3R BUT 3V3N H3 H4S H1S L1M1TS

**GC:** 1F YOU'R3 WORR13D SO MUCH JUST T4LK TO 4R4D14, H3 T3LLS H3R B4S1C4LLY 3V3RYTH1NG

**GC:** 4ND W41T, WH4T? 4R3 YOU SUR3? 1 THOUGHT H3 4ND N3P3T4 D1DN'T G3T 4LONG V3RY W3LL

**CG:** NEITHER SOLLUX OR ARADIA ARE ONLINE AS YOU CAN SEE

**GC:** 4CTU4LLY 1 C4N'T

**CG:** D:B

**CG:** IF I COULD MAKE MY FONT A SIZE BIGGER THAN CAPITALS THEN I WOULD FOR THIS NEXT WORD,

**CG:** ANYWAYS,

**CG:** IF THEY WERE, THEN OF FUCKING COURSE I WOULD MESSAGE THEIR ASSES.

**CG:** LOOK, I'M AWARE THIS PROBABLY SOUNDS LIKE I'M IGNORING MY OTHER FRIENDS, BUT I'M REALLY NOT

**CG:** I'M JUST WORRIED ABOUT GAMZEE MOST RIGHT NOW BECAUSE,

**CG:** A. EVEN THOUGH HE'S CALMED DOWN AT THE MOMENT THERE IS NO TELLING WHAT COULD MAKE HIM SNAP.

**CG:** B. I'M NOT THERE TO SHOOSH PAP HIM IF HE GETS OUT OF CONTROL.

**CG:** C. HE IS ALONE WITH NEPETA, AND ONCE HE GETS TO JADE'S ISLAND, HE WILL BE ALONE WITH ERIDAN. WHO IS ALSO A GOD DAMN MURDERER.

**GC:** OH Y33333S 1 C4N'T W41T TO H4V3 4 TR14L W1TH H1M

**GC:** H3 1S SO GU1LTY OF H1S CR1M3S TH4T 3V3N G1V1NG H1M 4 TR14L 1S BL4SPH3MOUSLY G3N3ROUS

**GC:** BUT 1 TH1NK YOU'R3 OV3RR34CT1NG 4 L1TTL3, NOT ON3 OF US H4S R3PORT3D 4NY S1GN OF H1M TURN1NG MURD3ROUS 4G41N

**GC:** FROM WH4T 1'V3 H34RD H3 G3TS 3MB4RR4SS3D WH3N YOU BR1NG UP H1S CR1M3S DON3 1N TH3 V31L

**CG:** WAIT LET ME GET THIS THE FUCK STRAIGHT. I JUST CAME TO YOU FOR SOME GOD DAMN REASSURANCE, AND ALL YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ARE HIS CRIMES? A TRIAL? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TEREZI, PLEASE TELL ME YOU AREN'T PLANNING ON KILLING HIM WHEN YOU GET TO THE ISLAND.

**GC:** OOPS! LOOKS L1K3 YOU'V3 C4UGHT ON TO MY JUST1F13ED 4CTS OF PROS3CTU1ON, MR. V4NT4S

**GC:** 4ND DON'T F33D M3 4NY, "BUT T3R3Z1 H3'S 1NNOC3NT H3 D1DN'T M34N 1T" BULLSH1T, B3C4US3 YOU OF 4LL P3OPL3 SHOULD KNOW TH4T SOM3T1M3, H3 W1LL SN4P

**GC:** 1T'S NOT L1K3 1 H4V3 TO M4K3 4N 1ND1CTM3NT H3R3

**CG:** I CANNOT FUCKING BELIEVE YOU TEREZI

**CG:** THIS ISN'T PROSECUTION, IT'S EXECUTION

**CG:** NO, IT'S NOT EVEN THAT. IT'S MURDER.

**CG:** THERE ARE ONLY 12 OF US LEFT, 12 TROLLS, IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE AND YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT KILLING ONE? THE ONE, NOT TO MENTION, I AM SHARING THE PALE QUADRANT WITH.

**CG:** IF YOU'RE GOING TO TRY AND KILL GAMZEE, THEN WHAT ABOUT ERIDAN? OR VRISKA? OR KANAYA? THEY ALL MURDERED.

**CG:** OR YOU

**CG:** YOU MURDERED SOMEONE TEREZI, I KNOW YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN.

**GC:** 1 H4V3N'T MURD3R3D 4NYON3, 1 3X3CUT3D A GU1LTY CR1M1N4L, R3SPONS1BL3 FOR TH3 D34TH OF T4VROS N1TR4M

**GC:** K4N4Y4 H4D 4LL TH3 R1GHTS TO K1LL 3R1D4N, S1NC3 H3 D1D K1LL H3R F1RST

**GC:** G4MZ33 H4D NO R34SONS TO K1LL N3P3T4 4ND EQU1US

**GC:** 3R1D4N H4D NO R34SONS TO K1LL F3F3R1 4ND K4N4Y4

**GC:** VR1SK4 H4D NO R34SONS TO K1LL T4VROS 4ND 4R4D14

**CG:** YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING

**CG:** I CAN LIST 3 REASONS FOR EACH OF THEM, RIGHT NOW, AS TO WHY THEY MIGHT HAVE GONE NUTS AND KILLED THE OTHERS.

**CG:** UNLIKE YOU, I TALK TO PEOPLE, I CONSOLE THEM, I TRY EVERYTHING I CAN TO STOP PEOPLE FROM MURDER EACH OTHER.

**GC: **4LL R1GHT

**GC:** 1 W4NT TO SM3LL YOUR R34SONS, G1V3 M3 THR33 R34SONS FOR E4CH OF TH3M 4S TO WHY TH3Y FL1PPED OFF THE H4NDLE

**GC: **4ND WHY YOU'R3 D3F3ND1NG TH3M FROM TH3 R1GHTFUL COURT.

**CG:** FINE, I COULD MAKE A FUCKING ENCYCLOPEDIA ON EACH OF THEM

**CG: **STAY TUNED FOR ANOTHER SHIT-TASTIC LIST

**CG:** 1. GAMZEE'D BEEN ADDICTED TO SOPOR ALMOST HIS ENTIRE LIFE, SUDDENLY RIP AWAY THE ONLY THING THAT'S KEPT HIM CALM FOR SWEEPS DOESN'T SIT TOO WELL WITH HIS THINKPAN

**CG:** 2. HIS IDIOTIC CLOWN RELIGION WAS RIPPED TO SHREDS BY A SINGLE FUCKING VIDEO STRIDER SENT HIM. ONE FUCKING VIDEO, EVERYTHING HE BELIEVED IN WAS A LIE.

**CG:** 3. PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE HATED HIM. WHENEVER HE TRIED TALKING TO ME, I SWORE AT HIM AND CALLED HIM A SHITTY BEST FRIEND. THE ONLY PERSON HE WAS EVER AT EASE TALKING TO, TAVROS, WAS KILLED BY VRISKA. WHO BY THE WAY, GAMZEE IS TERRIFIED OF.

**CG:** THREE SOLID REASONS FOR GAMZEE.

**CG:** NOW FOR ERIDAN

**CG:** 1. HE'D JUST BEEN REJECTED BY FEFERI, WHOM HE'D BEEN FLUSHED FOR BEFORE THE GAME EVEN FUCKING STARTED.

**CG:** 2. HE HAD TO WATCH AS HIS BLACK CRUSH FLIRTED WITH HIS RED, THE ONE HE TRIED SO HARD TO WIN OVER BUT COULDN'T.

**CG:** 3. HE DIDN'T HAVE ANY OTHER FRIENDS. I TOLD HIS PAST SELF OFF WHEN I FOUND OUT ABOUT HIS FUTURE MURDER, I MIGHT'VE BEEN ABLE TO STOP HIM HAD I THOUGHT IT OUT.

**CG:** THREE FOR ERIDAN. NOW FOR VRISKA.

**CG:** 1. VRISKA DIDN'T KILL TAVROS OUT OF SPITE, HE CHALLENGED HER. FUCKING CHALLENGED HER, AND YOU KNOW SHE CAN'T FUCKING RESIST A CHALLENGE.

**CG:** 2. HER ENTIRE LIFE SHE'D BEEN TRYING TO MAKE TAVROS STRONGER, SHE KNEW THAT HE WOULD NEVER SURVIVE IN OUR WORLD, AND EVENTUALLY BE CULLED HAD SGRUB NOT BEEN PLAYED. HE IGNORED EVERY ATTEMPT SHE MADE TO PREPARE HIM FOR THE REAL WORLD.

**CG:** C. SHE TRIED FILLING ALMOST ANY OF HIS QUADRANTS. NO MATTER WHAT SHE DID, WHETHER IT WAS WAXING BLACK, OR FLIRTING RED, HE IGNORED HER, SHE GOT TIRED OF BEING IGNORED.

**CG:** NOW I KNOW THIS DOESN'T MAKE WHAT THEY DID FUCKING RIGHT. BUT I'VE BEEN TALKING TO EVERYONE ON THE TEAM TEREZI, AND THEY REGRET IT. THEY ALL REGERT WHAT THEY DID. THEY HAD REASONS THOUGH, EVEN YOU HAD A REASON FOR KILLING VRISKA.

**CG:** ADMIT IT, YOU DIDN'T KILL HER JUST OUT OF JUSTICE. YOU KILLED HER OUT OF GOD DAMN SPITE, IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT TOPPING HER, WASN'T IT? YOU HAD TO BE BETTER THAN HER, ALL THE TIME.

**GC:** 4LL R1GHT, SOM3 OF THOS3 R34SONS M1GHT H4V3 H4D SOM3 PL4US1B1L1TY

**GC:** BUT 3V3N TH3N, TH3Y'R3 ST1LL GU1LTY, SOM3ON3 WHO 1S BOUND3D TO JUST1C3 SUCH 4S MYS3LF DO3SN'T G1V3 OUT S3COND CH4NC3S TO MURD3R3RS

**GC:** 4ND WH4T 1 D1D TO VR1SK4 W4S NOT OUT OF SP1T3, TH4T'S PROB4BLY TH3 FURTH3ST TH1NG FROM 1T

**GC:** DO YOU R3M3MB3R WH4T MY G4M3 T1TL3 W4S?

**GC:** 1T W4S S33R OF M1ND

**GC:** I FOR3S4W WH4T VR1SK4 WOULD H4V3 DON3 TO US H4D 1 NOT K1LL3D H3R

**GC:** 4ND 1N 4NY C4S3, MR. M1ILSH4K3 T3XT TOLD M3 SOM3T1M3 TH4T GOD T13R PL4Y3RS C4NNOT B3 K1LL3D

**GC:** UNL3SS, TH31R D34TH 1S JUST

**GC:** VR1SK4 ONLY D13D B3C4US3 SH3 D3S3RVED 1T :[

**CG:** SO YOU BELIEVE, THAT BECAUSE SOME "OMNIPOTENT" BEING WHOM YOU'VE NEVER MET IN REAL LIFE, THAT GOD TIER PLAYERS CAN'T DIE UNLESS THEIR DEATH IS JUSTIFIED

**GC:** TH1S CONV3RS4T1ON 1S GO1NG NO WH3R3, C4N W3 STOP B3R4T1NG 34CH OTH3R FOR ON3 S3COND

**CG:** FINE

**CG:** CAN WE JUST AGREE THAT EVERYONE HAD REASONS FOR SNAPPING?

**GC:** Y3S

**CG:** WILL YOU ALSO PROMISE ME SOMETHING?

**CG:** AND I MEAN IT

**CG:** NO FINGER CROSSING, NO JOKING, NO BREAKING THIS PROMISE, OKAY.

**GC:** W3LL WH4T 1S TH3 PROM1S3 :?

**CG:** DON'T KILL ANYONE IN OUR GROUP.

**CG:** NONE OF THE TROLLS, NONE OF THE HUMANS, UNLESS THEY GET INFECTED AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY

**CG:** PLEASE PROMISE ME THAT.

**GC:** F11111N3

**GC:** 1 PROM1S3

**GC:** WHY DO 1 G3T TH3 F33L1NG YOU'V3 B33N M4K1NG 4 LOT OF PROM1S3S L4T3LY

**CG:** I HAVE BEEN

**CG:** I HAVE TO PREVENT IDIOTS LIKE YOU FROM KILLING EACH OTHER.

**GC:** S1111111GH

**GC:** 1 C4N'T B3L13V3 1'M 4BOUT TO TYP3 TH1S

**GC:** 1'M SORRY

**GC:** BE1NG 4 L34D3R 4LL TH3 T1M3 MUST B3 TOUGH

**CG:** I FORGIVE YOU

**CG:** AND IT IS, BUT LOOK WHERE ALL OF MY EFFORT HAS GOTTEN US

**CG:** NO ONE IS DEAD.

**GC:** YOU 4R3 TH3 B3ST L34D3R K4RK4T H3H3H3H3H3H3

**GC:** 1 W1LL S33 YOU 4T TH3 1SL4ND

**CG:** I'LL SEE YOU THERE TOO

**CG:** OH, AND SORRY FOR DUMPING ALL THIS ON YOU WITHOUT EVEN ASKING HOW YOU'RE DOING

**CG:** HOW ARE YOU DOING?

**GC:** 4S GOOD 4S 1T C4N G3T R1GHT NOW, 1 H4V3N'T B33N 1NJUR3D 4LL TH4T B4DLY

**CG:** I'M GLAD

**GC:** NO OFF3NS3 K4RK4T, BUT W3'V3 B33N T4LK1NG FOR 4WH1L3 NOW

**GC:** 1 TH1NK 1T'S T1M3 W3 G3T GO1NG

**CG:** YEAH, THE SUN IS GOING TO GO DOWN SOON

**CG:** TALK TO YOU SOME OTHER TIME TEREZI.

**GC:** BY3333333 K4RK4T!

**GC:** 3

**gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]**

** carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]**

**CG: 3**

**carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]**

And yet another emotionally exhausting conversation with your friend (flush crush?) NO THAT WAS A STUPID THOUGHT WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT. Reassurance from your friends (Most of them anyway) has calmed down your potential mental break down. Which would be very, very bad for you right now. You managed to escape that huge pack of zombies headed your way, but only just in the nick of time. At one point you swore you heard incomprehensible moaning, the noise zombies typically make. But it may have been the wind.

You traveled out of the woods to a very rural place, very wide forgotten fields stretching on and on for miles. Wilted crops make an eerie whistling noise when the wind gets really bad. That was another thing you hadn't mentioned yet, mainly because it hadn't become such a problem until a few days ago. The wide flat lands here are prey to violent wind storms that ravage the land, and near knock you over sometimes.

Most of the zombies you'd come across were already dead, as in dead dead. Not from a shot to the head, or getting so decomposed they couldn't continue, oh no. They died of starvation. There was almost nothing living they could eat anymore. You shudder at the memories of the corpses, so thin and hollow as if nothing could satiate their hunger. You wonder bleakly if you'll starve to death before you can get to the island. You doubt it, since zombies only prey on the flesh of living creatures.

That was another thing that was weird around here. When you said there was nothing living here, you meant it. The animals and most of the plants had withered away. Giving the land a dead quality. The sky was constantly in a state of potential rain, greenish grey clouds casting shadows on the dull yellow fields. But it never rained, and the few animals you saw at first disappeared. They either migrated or died off. Either way it makes you nervous. You hate this place more than the woods.

But, Rose told you that you're getting closer. You're entering a region of the states that was dubbed "The Dust Bowl" in the 1930's for it's horrible dust storms. You hadn't seen any dust storms yet, but the wind storms were definitely a problem. As well as the drought, there was little water here. You're moving northwest, as she instructed. In order to get to the island and find water. You have a few water bottles captchalogued, and some tuber chips left over, but that's about it. You're running low on supplies.

You pack your husktop, and check on your captchalogue to make sure all of your items are there. Once you'd double-checked you walk down a road made of dirt. Your feet are aching, your shoes have worn down so much the balls of your feet nearly show through. In that moment, you have the urge to just collapse, and cry like a god damn wriggler for your lusus. You miss Crabdad. Kanaya was right, you're just a kid. You're all just god damn kids. You want your lusus, your moirail, and to watch a stupid romcom, relax for once. To not have to worry about being eaten constantly, or worry for your friends.

You allow yourself the smallest lip wobble. There is no way you'll cry, no way. Lousy zombies. You somber up, not allowing yourself the chance to cry. Emotions aren't meant for this world, this world of death. You wish you could be stoic, not care about anything in this place except yourself. You know that would never happen though. You shake your head, clearing your thoughts and try zoning out, not thinking about anything.

The method works, and you find yourself at the end of the dirt road. The road ends, and turns into asphalt. A very small town by the looks of it. What's so unnerving though, are the signs posted. They are written in whatever the survivors could get their hands on it appears. Several of them warn of the time allotted it takes for a person to change into a zombie. All of the times are different, one says 4 days, another says 3 days, 1 day, 16 hours, 2 hours, all but leading up to one underlined and circled in something red, 5 minutes. It can take only five minutes for someone to change. You resist a shudder.

Other signs warn of what attracts zombies, most of which you already know. A few say what weapons are most effective, and actually list some decent advice. Some are romantic, people who write messages saying that if their significant other can read this, then head to "Insert city here". A few say "You will not survive." or other dreadfully cheery things like that. Some humans make you sick to your stomach.

You walk cautiously through the town. Going about 15-20 minutes you suppose before meeting your first group of zombies. There are 3 of them, leaning against walls, almost looking depressed. Quietly you pull your sickles from your strife. The zombies have looked up at you, but didn't even moan in recognition. These ones look particularly decimated, probably near the end of their half life. You make quick work of them. You feel a small amount of sympathy for them, being so mangled that they barely resisted when you stuck a blade in their brains.

You don't dwell on the thoughts long, and lurk around the town meticulously. You raid an old 7-ELEVEN for some water and human snacks. Much to your delight, you picked up a working flashlight and some batteries. You even picked up a bottle of grape faygo for Gamzee, and a bag of cotton candy for Terezi. After the raid you hurry out of the town, shambling in almost zombie-like state yourself. You take a breather at the stump of a tiny tree, and take a few sips of water. The sky is getting darker, and you figure it will be night time soon. Being out in the open for so long has made you quite nervous.

You walk several more miles before the sky has turned a black-green colour. The wind picks up, buffeting you. You take shelter under a pitiful cluster of trees and will the storm to stop. After about 2 hours of non-stop wind you give up. Securing the tarp you used earlier to the base of a few trees to block out the wind, you take a dirty pillow out of your sylladex and attempt to get some sleep. You have a feeling it's going to be a long, long night.

* * *

><p><strong>- ElfenBloodMage - Hehe thank you! ┬──┬ ノ( ゜-゜ノ)<strong>

**- Mitch - Thank you! Yes Zombies/Homestuck is best**

**- Purrple and Gr33n - Thank you! I will be sure to continue updating**

**- Mewmew - Okay! Writing for them will be fun**

**- Kyroma - That's fine! I'm glad you're reviewing at all haha. Omg wow how are you even reading this if you don't like that ship,, Thank you, but I don't have any haters yet. I was just miffed that people only commented on my choice of pairings UmU**

**- quiet-spectator - Wow thanks! And sure, I'm a big fan of that pair**

**- Nami Uchicha 1313 - Yep! Thanks, I will! uvu**

**- Discouraging - You're username contradicts your review haha. Oh, Okay UmU Thanks for reading even if you're not a fan of the pair,,**

**- Hiezen Uchicha - That's fine! Yes I will continue to do so**

**- Theblackone - Sure! I love their interaction**

**- Shadowcyrse - Thanks for reviewing all the chapters! I wish I had an XBOX, I could still play Left 4 Dead if I did /signs**

**- 707 - I have no idea what that is and I don't want to know,,,**

**- gamnep - Sure thing! Sorry that ff ate my URL, it's birdiyo, just add tumblr to the URL or send it to me through fanmail UvU**

**- huntah-luvs-wytch - Thank you! uvu**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: Wow this was a really fun chapter to write, I love the setting I came up with for Terezi. I tried to make up unique settings for the characters, i.e Karkat being stuck in the Dust Bowl region of the United States. I think he's in Oklahoma about now, probably the pan handle. Kanaya's setting was actually based off of a river I live nearby, which also explains where I got the idea for the duck hunting box becoming a make-shift shelter for her.**

**Kanaya is a great character to write for, this chapter I put a lot of emphasis on her 'meddlesome' nature, which you can see in some of her dialogue.**

**And as for anyone who has played the Left 4 Dead games, I'm sure you'll enjoy this chapter.**

**Also, I'll be sneaking in puns for the names of locations, like the town being called 'Enlish Scratch'.**

**Thanks for all the great comments! Please keep reviewing, I only got a couple last chapter! :o**

**Oh, and I've been getting some reviews about Sober!Gamzee, he will for sure be going sober, but it will be tons of chapters later, so don't be expecting it any time soon. Right now he has a steady access to sopor thanks to Jade, the only time he could go sober is if something happens to her or she runs out of energy.**

* * *

><p><strong>== Be Terezi Pyrope<strong>

You are now Terezi Pyrope, and it's about god damn time. You shut your husktop in exasperation. Karkat has been getting on your nerves lately, he's acting very whiny. You didn't even kill anyone yet. But now you've gotten yourself into a promise you can't break. Such a pity, you were looking forward to the great trials for the guilty.

Clearing your thoughts, you captchalogue your husktop and stare unseeing at the scenery before you. You're located in an old junkyard, in a rusty old town. The yard doesn't smell terribly bad, it's mostly broken windows and mirrors anyway. The town must've manufactured mirrors and windows at one point, and the defects or trashed ones were sent here to the junkyard to be melted down.

This creates a very odd place for you to be, the broken mirrors make distorted reflections of you, and anything else that happens to wander in here. You probably would have moved sooner, if not for the mirrors creating delectable images of your cherry and teal flarp outfit. They were also useful for letting you know when something was trying to sneak up on you. Zombies normally got a cane to the skull before they even knew what hit them. Needless to say, you haven't been as hurt as some of your other teammates.

You even like to toy with zombies, to see how much they can take before dying. It's about 5 hits to the head with a cane or club, and 1 bullet as long as it's a headshot. Zombies don't die unless you damage their brain, but you can paralyze them by snapping their necks or hitting their spines. You've started classifying the different types of zombies as well.

Dave swears some of them are almost identical to an old human game called _Left 4 Dead_. He sent you a few photos, and they did smell just like the real thing. You and Rose, being the other Seer, have made a list of the types of zombies, and what each ones can do. Rose typed it out and sent the file to you a few days ago.

**Common Infected – **They started off as normal people, they are not quite dead though. They have a mutated form of a human virus called rabies (Uncertain). They will become quickly enraged, and will eat almost anything as long as it has flesh. They won't normally attack unless provoked or hungry.

**Special Infected – **Sorted into several classes.

**Hunters – **Humans who had specially developed leg muscles, quite often parkour players. They are always wearing hoodies, which makes it difficult to tell if they're blind or not. I speculate they have weak vision and rely on other things like smell. Their senses (Save for sight) have doubled in efficiency. They are the only special infected that can remain completely silent when hunting/attacking. The noises they make can be referred to as dog-like yelping/barking, growling, and very loud screams when pouncing.

**Smokers – **Humans who once damaged their lungs by smoking or inhaling large quantities of smoke/dust. They're possibly blind in the left eye, where large bulbous pustules grow. They have a large cloud of some sort of noxious gas surrounding them at all times. Identified easily by their long retractable tongues, which can be up to 50 ft long. The tongues can grow back after some time, but are easily detachable. A trail of greenish gas follows them everywhere, and the noises they make are very loud coughing, and growling. Killing them leads to a cloud of blackish greenish poisonous smoke, be sure to kill them outside or in a vented room.

**Boomers – **People who were overweight when alive, or had a larger body type than most. They are the weakest special infected, but hide a trick up their sleeves. The Boomer's stomach has become some kind of tankard, filling up with a solution that attracts hordes of the common infected when it reacts with living tissue. They are easily recognizable by their large stomachs, which have turned green with the mysterious solution. They make belching noises, inhaling deeply, and grunting.

**Tanks – **One of the most irritating of zombies, they are typically body builders, or people who have developed muscles. They are huge hulking masses of muscle, and the strength to rip out concrete. They will kill other common infected to get to you. The ground shakes when they are around, and you will see common infected frantically trying to get out of the way. You will know when one is coming. The only effective way to kill them is to either shoot them repeatedly with more than one gun at a time (So it is assumed), or set them on fire with a molotov.

**Witches – **The most elusive, and dangerous zombie. Witches have only appeared as girls, and are always sobbing hysterically. The sobs sound identical to that of a human, and unfortunately confused survivors will often try to find the witches, thinking they are other humans, but end up being eaten. Witches can be easily tip-toed around, as long as you don't get too close and startle them. They can kill in one-strike, and other special infected will often try to lead other survivors into Witch territory, hoping to get an easy kill. Distinctively girls, they sob, and screech when startled.

**Spitters – **Another class that is only made up of woman. Typically teenage girls, though some are older. These zombies are a huge problem when trying to fight long-distance. They are similar to Smokers, in the sense that they are much easier to beat close-combat. Spitters are accurately named from the green acid they spit on humans from long distances. They have very long necks, that continuously drip green acid. Little glowing flecks of green float around them, making it easy for them to be spotted. Spitters make small screeching noises, and shrieks. They are easily killed, but explode and spread the green acid everywhere when dead. The acid will eat through almost anything, and you must be cautious.

**Jockeys – **The rarest of special infected. They are very short, with overdeveloped limbs and upper body. They can jump nearly as high as hunters. They're named Jockeys after their favorite way of killing, jumping on survivors backs and steering them into common infected, or witches. Jockeys are wild, and the most unpredictable zombies. They can be shoved off, but will jump back on quickly unless they are killed. Jockeys can never seem to shut up, they make haggard maniacal laughter all the time, no matter where you are, they can't sneak up on you. Jockeys can be killed by shooting them mid-jump (Very difficult, don't attempt unless necessary), or shoved off and shot.

**Chargers – **Yet another class noticed mostly for it's strength. Chargers tend to strike at the worst times, and kill by slamming people into solid objects like walls, or cars. They have an over sized right arm, and very small left arm. They get their name from their irksome way of charging into people, slamming them into the ground. Chargers can be killed by shooting, and they have a very hard time changing direction once they've charged, step out of the way, and then shoot before they can recover.

The information is slightly reliable at best. Most of the details Rose included were tips Dave gave her, based off of the video game. No one from the group has even encountered a Jockey or a Charger yet. The bit about the spitters is completely true though, you messaged Aradia a few days ago and she had been talking about a zombie that dripped green acid everywhere.

You decide to check your food and water supply, unlike most of your teammates, you had the common sense to keep a list of what items you have on you, as to be sure that when something is stolen you know.

**FOOD**

**1 ROLL OF HUM4N BR34D**

**2 B4GS OF HUM4N CH1PS**

**3 B4GS OF HUM4N GOLDF1SH TH4T DON'T 3V3N SM3LL L1K3 GOLD**

**4 4PPLES**

**5 P13C3S OF HUM4N HOOFB34ST J3RKY**

**6 BOTTL3S OF W4T3R**

**ITEMS**

**1 SURV1V4L KN1F3**

**2 P1STOLS**

**3 BOX3S OF 4MMUN1T1ON – 34CH 50 BULL3TS**

**1 K1CK4SS DR4GON C4N3**

**3 R3GUL4R OUTF1TS**

**1 FL4RP OUTF1T**

Those are all of your items. You like to travel fairly light, and you always know when something goes missing, or when food spoils. You never take any easily perishable foods with you, the smell they make when they start to rot is enough to nearly knock you out.

Gathering up your things, you head out of the mirror "sanctuary" and decide to explore the town a little bit before heading to Jade's island. The town is very small, but crowded. There are lots of alleyways you need to be careful of, always make sure there's no humans with a case of the munchies hiding in there. Zombies are very persistent when it comes to prey. They can run, and climb fences. You bet they would even try to swim if given the chance.

You walk down the street casually, rapping your cane lightly against the ground as you go. You smell musty raspberry bricks and moldy cheese infection. There are a few zombies shambling around town, but they don't notice you, and even if they did they make no move to attack you. Still, you keep your knife at the ready. Zombies are unpredictable, but there's no use in wasting ammunition.

You stop at an old flower shop, all but licking the window to taste the delicious flowers inside. They are wilting though, their water supply running low and not being taken care of. It's almost pathetic, the way human society has crumbled so much in just 2-3 weeks. You're still surprised that humans even managed to populate the Earth so quickly, there could be 10 million grubs born at any moment back on Alternia. You're lucky the infection didn't break out back home, the culling drones would kill all of the trolls infected, surely wiping out almost all life on the home planet. Of course that doesn't matter now,since Alternia was destroyed.

You continue along the street, stopping to smell a bright red firetruck. Bodies are piled up against the truck, with many others on the other side. It looks like the firemen tried to protect the remaining people of the town, but failed. Humans did have courage, you'd give them that.

Towards the end of the town, you force a door to a department store open. Managing to get inside, you sniff the air in search of anything salvageable. You assume it's very dark inside, since the electricity to this town gave out awhile ago. Not a problem to you though. You wander among the aisles, swiping a bag of delicious red Swedish fish. You grab one flashlight and some batteries too.

Then in the gloom, you hear something. Smell something. Zombies, at least 4 of them. You whirl around, and inhale deeply. There are definitely 4 of them, 2 large males, 1 skinny male, and a short female. You hiss and whip your cane out menacingly. The larger men come at you first with surprising speed, snarling. You slash the first one's neck open, and he falls to the ground with a thud. The other one manages to rip part of your flarp outfit before getting a cane in his brain.

You kill the third male with an easy stroke of the cane, but the last zombie has gotten the advantage of surprise. She snuck up behind you, out of your field of scent and buried her jaws deep in your neck. The only thing that saved you was the flarp outfit's thick fabric.

Terrified, you whip around, clawing at the zombie trying to get free. You must've scratched her eyes, because she let go and screeched. You stab her in the chest, and then her head. Dave told you that one thing you had to do when killing zombies, is the double tap method. A clean wound or shot to the head. You agree in full.

You hiss in frustration, you could've been eaten by any old regular zombie! You need to up your game, and be more cautious. At least you snagged some food and a flashlight. You slip out the door again, the smell of so much blood making you nauseous. Normally, the red odor of blood would have been tasty, but not this kind of blood. It smells like putrefaction and nasty rotting cherries. It's not really in your pallet.

Heading outside again, you make a plan to escape the town. Walking back to your haven is easy, thankfully you didn't meet any other zombies. You gather up your items, and add the new ones to the list. You crawl under a huge shard of glass, propped up against the shell of an old car. It's not the safest place to be, but it offers some protection. You pull out pyralsprite, your favourite scalemate and use him as a pillow. After a long day of exploring the town, and having emotionally exhausting conversations with Karkat, you're bone-dead tired. You won't have trouble falling asleep tonight.

**== Be Kanaya Maryam**

You are now Kanaya Maryam. And you are starving. After yet another emotionally exhausting conversation with Karkat, you could really use a snack. You've been feeding off of human livestock for the past few weeks, snacking on a cow that has managed to survive the apocalypse for now. You pack your husktop, and hop over a wooden fence, to an abandoned farm. You open the barn doors, overcome by hunger. Ophi is fast asleep thankfully. You've decided to name her Ophi, after the Ophiotauras. A human myth, about a half cow half sea serpent creature.

You silently creep over to the animal, careful to not awaken it. Feeding from Ophi when she is awake is difficult at best. You make an incision close to her neck, and gulp as much blood as possible before the cow realizes what's going on.

After you've filled up, you open the doors to the barn and blink in the sunlight. Your iridescent skin casts a faint halo around you, obscuring your shadow. You hop over the fence again, back to your make-shift hive. You've taken shelter in an old duck shooting box that looks over a river. It's well concealed, and big enough to accommodate you, since sleeping has been very difficult. Not to mention, it blocks out most of the light you cast.

You open the door to the box, and climb in. You rub your temples, feeling a small migraine pushing in the corner of your head. Karkat and his escapades are quite emotionally exhausting, not to mention his griping about his moirail. You gather your items that have been sprawled about the box, which is only your lipstick, and a few spare scraps of fabric. Oh how you sorely miss sewing beautiful dresses with your lusus on Alternia. No use in remembering things that will never happen again though.

You climb out of the box again, not liking the cramped feeling it gives you. You look out over the river, it looks so pretty in the sun. You sigh, knowing that the fish in that river are completely unaware of the terrors that this world holds. You wish you could be free of worry like them.

Thinking again of Karkat's distress of Gamzee and Nepeta, you realize something. Tavros. Oh, no poor Tavros. Had you even told him? Well, someone will have to. You and Tavros have become great friends in this apocalypse, and you shudder to think what it would be like if anyone else but you told him that his possible flush crush had gotten over the feelings. Hopefully he didn't even reciprocate the feelings in the first place. Pulling your husktop out from your sylladex, you troll Tavros. He is actually quite close to your location, and normally online when you are too.

**grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling adiosToreador [AT]**

**GA:** Hello Tavros

**AT:** oH, uH, hI KANAYA,

**AT:** hOW ARE YOU? }:)

**GA:** I Am Faring Well

**GA:** I Ask The Same Of You

**AT:** i'M DOING FINE, aS FINE AS I CAN BE RIGHT NOW,

**GA:** Excellent I Am Glad To Hear That

**AT:** sO, NOT TO BE RUDE, BUT WHY ARE CONTACTING ME? aRE YOU JUST ASKING HOW I AM OR,,,

**GA:** Actually Ive Got Some News For You

**GA:** Karkat Is Incapable Of Telling You And Gamzee Is Offline

**GA:** As Your Friend I Feel It Is My Duty To Let You Know

**AT:** uH, tELL ME WHAT, eXACTLY,,

**GA:** You Were Aware Of Gamzees Ah Feelings Towards You Is That Correct

**AT:** eR,,,,,,

**AT:** yES,,,,,,,,,,

**GA:** Did You Reciprocate Them

**AT:** uM, aRE YOU ASKING ME HONESTLY?

**GA:** Yes

**GA:** As Honest As Possible

**AT:** nO, nOT, REALLY,,,

**AT:** i'M REALLY SORRY, i JUST THINK OF HIM AS A FRIEND,,,,,

**AT:** tELL HIM I'M SORRY, iF THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT,,

**GA:** Oh Thank Goodness

**GA:** No Thats Not What I Meant

**AT:** rEALLY? tHEN, wHAT WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME? }:O

**GA:** He And Nepeta Are Flushed For Each Other

**GA:** They Are In The Red Quadrant

**GA:** I Thought I Would Let You Know Now Rather Than When You Meet Up At The Island Which Would No Doubt Cause A Dramatic Awkwardness

**GA:** I Must Also Say I Assumed You Felt The Same Way Toward Him

**GA:** And I Wanted To Be The First To Tell You

**AT:** oH,,,,wOW,,,,

**AT:** tHAT'S uH,, uNEXPECTED, tO SAY AT THE VERY LEAST,

**AT:** tHANKS, FOR LETTING ME KNOW,,,

**AT:** tHIS IS A GOOD THING, RIGHT,

**AT:** i MEAN, I THOUGHT NEPETA DIDN'T LIKE HIM, BECAUSE,, Y'KNOW,,

**GA:** I Believe It Is

**GA:** Im Rather Unsure

**GA:** I Suspect Jade Can Fill Us In Later

**GA:** Theyre Both Very Close To Her Island

**GA:** And Next Time He Comes Online Im Certain He Will Talk To You About It

**AT:** oKAY,

**AT:** sORRY, tHIS IS JUST, vERY sURPRISING,

**AT:** aT LEAST, i DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT ANYMORE,

**GA:** Very True

**AT:** iS THAT ALL YOU WANTED TO TELL ME?

**GA:** That Is All I Wanted To Discuss For Now

**AT:** oKAY,

**AT:** i THINK I'M GOING TO HEAD BACK ON THE ROAD, iF YOU DON'T MIND,

**GA:** Not At All

**GA:** Thank You For Being So Understanding

**AT:** nO PROBLEM, }:)

**AT:** bYE KANAYA,

**GA:** Goodbye Tavros

**grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased trolling adiosToreador [AT]**

That went much better than expected. You are sure Tavros will talk to Gamzee next time they're both online. He seemed happy for Gamzee anyway, so in any case their friendship won't be affected. You shut your husktop, and stare out across the river, watching the clouds reflections for awhile.

Tiring of the same river scene, you decide you've spent too much time in this place anyway. You captchalogue what little items you have, and start on your way towards the island. You don't travel very long before coming along your first pack of zombies in a long time. There are 3 females, growling and spitting red blood everywhere. The smell fill yours nostrils, it smells like food, albeit no where near appetizing, more like rotten dead food. You pull your lipstick out, and change it into a chainsaw. The motor revs threateningly. The zombies are unperturbed, and hiss.

They sprint at top-speed for a zombie, and you side-step, slashing the saw in an arch. The first target is down, bifurcated. The second one screeches and slashes at you. You kick her, and cut her head open. The third one meets the same fate. You calmly switch your chainsaw back to lipstick, and stick it in your strife. The first zombie that you bifurcated is still alive, growling and attempting to eat you, even after her legs have been separated from her body. Such a stubborn virus, you think.

You walk around the mess of a human, not alive and not dead. After walking for a few hours, you take a rest near an old bike path. You wait there for several minutes, until the unnerving silence makes you too antsy to sit still. You continue along the road, stopping occasionally to survey the damage of a town, or decide which path to take. You fear you are entering a more suburban populace, which will surely be harder to navigate as there are more zombies and obstacles.

Your suspicions are confirmed as you enter a large town called ENGLISH SCRATCH. What a stupid name. You attempt to go around the town, but it appears the area you're entering in now only leads back to the town. You swallow your fears and begin walking into the town, watchful for any movement. You are aware noise attracts zombies, so you pillage a house, and captchalogue a set of cooking knives. Thankfully the zombies in that house had already been killed.

You lurk through more of the streets. You hear a single moaning noise coming from behind you. Alarmed you turn around, and see one zombie walking towards you slowly at the top of a hill. You sigh in relief, there's only one. Then, you pick up more moans. More zombies appear behind the single one. The number swells from 5-10-15, and increasing. Terrified, you run. You cannot kill that many zombies without a gun, or without attracting even more with your loud chainsaw.

You run as fast as possible, the zombies behind you are not as fast as ones you've encountered before, they appear to be older humans and haven't had much to eat lately. You sprint through the town for so long your sides ache, and your vision clouds over. You come to the end of the road, a huge black gate blocking your way. There appears to be a sign tacked on the other side, but it's facing the other direction and you don't have time to read it in the first place. The zombies are fast approaching, and in a desperate act fueled by adrenaline you try climbing the gate.

Your leg is cut on one of the gate's spikes, and your best red skirt is torn, but you manage to half-land, half-fall over the side. The zombies groan, but are unable to climb the gate. Only then did you get to read the sign, written in blood it says, "DO NOT ENTER, ALL DEAD". The brick wall surrounding the fence has a plaque engraved in it, it says, "ENGLISH SCRATCH RETIREMENT HOMES". So it appears the town was once a retirement center for elderly humans.

Exhausted, you walk over the side of the road, and into a stretch of woods. The sun is going down, and you rest until you fall into an uneasy nap.

* * *

><p><strong>- Shadowcyrse - Thank you! Yep, I'm definitely going to write for a Sober!Gamzee, but it will be much much further in the story. As for your headcanon, I could see it being plausible, but what Terezi meant is that he's clever, and can easily outwit a dead zombie. I think he relies to heavily on psiionics to be a good fighter on his own, hell he didn't even have a strife specibus in Homestuck.<strong>

**- Kitty-Bandit - Wow gosh thanks! I'm really glad you like it, and I have to agree, I don't see many Zombiestuck stories, let alone ones with Gamzee in it.**

**- kiik - I think keyboards just need a 'asdfghjkl;' button for when you don't know what to say haha. Thank you!**

**- some d-bag - Nope, sorry! When I began writing this Act 6 hadn't even come out yet, and since Dirk and Roxy live in 413 P.C. and Jane and Jake live in the 1900's, I think there is no way for them to be in the AU. They'll be kept as Bro, Dad, Bec, and Mom in this.**

**- Fiesta en mis Pantalones O - Thank you! He will be going sober, but later on the story. Right now he's got access to sopor whenever, so I can't have him going sober unless something happens to Jade. And ahaha it's fine, I have to type out fuck all the time for the characters anyway. **

**- Kyroma - Omg yes. One of my headcanons is that Karkat and Kanaya love to gossip, but Karkat would never admit it. Hehe, I'm glad I could write some humour for this story! Thank you!**

**- LocoChocoTaco - Gosh sorry to disappoint so often then! I normally update about once every week (Normally on a Sunday or Saturday). Yes another shipper good. Thanks! Cool, I think you're my frist review that's the same age as me, at least that I know of. uvu**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm closing in on 100 reviews! I was shocked by the amount of reviews and popularity this has received, and I thank you for your support, reviews, suggestions, critiques, etc.! Once I got writing for Tavros, I actually kinda enjoyed typing like him! We basically have the same typing quirk already oops.**

**I'd like to take up this space for anyone reading this, that now is the time to ASK QUESTIONS in your review, I'm working on a second FAQ and it would be helpful to get some more. The questions can be related to anything in the AU, whether it be about the virus, relationships, zombies, weapons, etc. I'll take this chapter and maybe a few afterwards to take in questions.**

**There's not much to say about the writing I did for the characters, other than I struggled greatly with Eridan and Jade's interactions. I was getting second hand embarrassment from my own writings /sobs  
><strong>

**Please review if you enjoyed the story!**

* * *

><p><strong>== Be one of those trolls the author has ignored up until now<strong>

You are now Tavros Nitram. Being ignored is a little harsh, but you're not even sure why you thought that. You're confused out of your thinkpan right now. Gamzee and Nepeta were matesprits? You know Kanaya isn't one to joke, but that claim is still pretty far-fetched. You know you're going to contact Gamzee as soon as he gets online. You are relieved that he finally got over his pity, but also concerned about this new relationship. You mean, it's not that you don't trust Gamzee, it's just that your kinda worried about Nepeta. You weren't alive when it happened, but you heard the stories the other trolls told.

Gamzee and Nepeta got along pretty well in the Veil, until he snapped, that is. But now, after the game ended, they end up together? In this crazy world, anything could happen you suppose. You swing your metal legs back and forth, atop a tall tree. Still confused, you check to see who else is online. Perhaps Gamzee might be now that the sun has gone down, and the timezones have shifted. _gardenGnostic, tentacleTherapist, terminallyCapricious, arsenicCatnip, _and _centaursTesticle _are online. Delighted to see Gamzee, Nepeta, and Jade are online, you open chat windows with each of them. Hopefully Gamzee will explain everything to you in one swing like he normally does.

**adiosToreador [AT] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]**

AT: hEY, GAMZEE, }:)

AT: hOW ARE YOU DOING?

TC: aW sHiT hEy TaVbRo, I'vE mIsSeD tAlKiNg WiTh YoU. I'M dOiNg MoThErFuCkiNg gReAt.

TC: WhAt AbOuT yOu? :o)

AT: i'M DOING GOOD, aND i'VE MISSED RAPPING AND TALKING TO YOU TOO,

AT: i JUST WANTED TO CONTACT YOU, bECAUSE KANAYA TOLD ME SOME INTERESTING STUFF,,,

AT: sHE TOLD ME TO TALK TO YOU IN ORDER TO CLARIFY,,

TC: aNd WhAt WaS tHaT sHe Up AnD tOlD yOu?

AT: sHE SAID, sOMETHING ABOUT YOU AND NEPETA, bEING IN THE RED QUADRANT,,,,

TC: wElL, mOtHeRfUcK. yEaH sHe WaS tElLiNg tHe TrUtH. i'M rEaLlY sOrRy TaVbRo, AbOuT nOt TeLlInG yOu SoOnEr. I kInDa ThOuGhT sHe'D lEt Me TeLl YoU fIrSt.

AT: oH, I DON'T MIND,,, i'M ACTUALLY HAPPY FOR YOU,

AT: i THINK THAT i'M FLUSHED FOR SOMEONE ELSE, aNYWAY,, SO THIS IS ACTUALLY A GOOD THING, THAT HAS HAPPENED,,,

TC: tHaNkS dUdE! i HoPe YoU dOn'T mInD mE pRyInG, bUt WhO's ThE mOtHeRfUcKeR yOu'Re CrUsHiNg On? ;o)

AT: uH, iT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN, sO THERE'S NO POINT IN TELLING,,,

TC: Is It JaDe? Or VrIsKa?

AT: eR, jADE,,,

AT: i THINK THAT SHE LIKES DAVE MORE THAN ME THOUGH,,, i MEAN,, i TRIED TELLING HER,,, bUT SHE REJECTED ME,

AT: wE ARE STILL GOOD FRIENDS,,, bUT SHE TALKS ABOUT HIM, A LOT,

TC: fUcK, i'M sOrRy To HeAr AbOuT tHaT. i NeVeR lIkEd ThAt DaVe GuY aNyWaY. hOw LoNg AgO dId YoU tAlK tO hEr AbOuT tHiS?

AT: wHEN WE WERE STILL PLAYING THE GAME,

TC: ThAt WaS sWeEpS aGo! You ShOUlD mOtHerFuCkInG tAlK tO hEr MoRe OfTeN, aNd i CaN eVeN ThRoW iN A gOoD wOrD fOr YoU aT tHe IsLaNd.

AT: mAYBE, eITHER WAY, iT WILL STILL BE NICE TALKING TO HER AGAIN,

AT: aND IF YOU COULD "THROW IN A GOOD WORD" FOR ME, tHAT WOULD BE, REALLY GREAT, }:)

TC: hAhA, nO pRoBlEm TaVbRo. I'lL lAy DoWn RhYmEs So SmOoTh JaDe WiLl Be MoThErFuCkInG hEaD oVeR hEeLs FoR yOu.

AT: wOW, tHANKS GAMZEE, i MIGHT HAVE A CHANCE THEN,

AT: jADE IS ACTUALLY ONLINE, rIGHT NOW, sO DO YOU MIND IF I TALK TO HER?

AT: i WANTED TO TALK, tO NEPETA TOO, sINCE SHE IS ONLINE,

TC: Go RiGhT aHeAd, We CaN tAlK aGaIn LaTeR.

AT: oKAY, BYE GAMZEE, }:)

TC: sEeYa, aNd GoOd LuCk TaVbRo!

**terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased trolling adiosToreador [AT]**

So, what Kanaya told you was true. Thought it's still surprising, the initial shock has started to wear off. Time to go talk to Nepeta, she might be able to give you a better explanation of how this became a thing.

**adiosToreador [AT] began trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]**

AT: hI NEPETA,

AC: :33 tavros! h33 h33, how are you?

AT: oH, i'M DOING WELL, i UH, jUST WANTED TO CHECK ON HOW YOU ARE DOING,

AC: :33 i apurreciate the concern tavros, but i'm doing fine! gamz33 told me you two already talked, right?

AT: yEAH WE DID, i'M STILL KIND OF CONFUSED THOUGH, wHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?

AC: :33 i know gamz33 can be kind of hard to get, hopefully i can answer anything you n33d to know :33

AC: :33 i think it was about 2 days ago, so not much time has pawssed

AT: oKAY, tHANKS,

AT: nOT TO BE RUDE, aND BRING UP THINGS FROM THE PAST, bUT I THOUGHT YOU LIKED,, kARKAT,

AC: :33 oh

AC: :(( i did

AC: :33 but he didn't f33l the same away about me, no matter how hard i tried

AC: :33 he was waxing red for terezi so obviously, i needed to move on, y'know?

AT: i CAN UNDERSTAND,, WHERE YOU ARE COMING FROM,

AT: bUT STILL, aFTER WHAT HAPPENED,, IN THE VEIL,,, aREN'T YOU A LITTLE WORRIED,,

AC: :33 i'm not worried, but i am a little pawtious :((

AC: :33 he's b33n weaning himself off of sopurr for awhile meow

AC: :33 but i'm k33ping track of the days, and he hasn't had sopurr in a long time

AC: :33 i think i'll ask jade if she can send some ofur soon :33

AT: tHAT WOULD PROBABLY BE, a SMART MOVE ON YOUR BEHALF,

AC: :33 anymeowre questions?

AT: oTHER THAN, hOW FAR YOU ARE AWAY FROM JADE'S ISLAND, nO,

AC: :33 hmm let me s33 what the ship says

AC: :33 about 25 miles? is that far in human meowsurement?

AT: nO, tHAT'S ACTUALLY VERY CLOSE, yOU SHOULD BE THERE, wITHIN HOURS, oR MINUTES, hUMAN MEASUREMENT SYSTMES SURE ARE WEIRD,

AC: :OO wow really?

AT: i'M PRETTY SURE, i'VE UH, bEEN TRYING TO LEARN HUMAN DISTANCE, iN ORDER TO KEEP TRACK OF HOW FAR I GO IN A DAY,

AC: :33 oh that's great news! we can get some food to eat and slime to sl33p in soon! h33 h33 :33

AC: :33 i've only been eating raw animals lately, even i'm getting sick of it x33

AT: uM, eW, i KNOW I WOULD GET SICK OF THAT, pRETTY QUICKLY,

AT: bUT, hAVE FUN, aT THE ISLAND, wHEN YOU GET THERE,

AT: i THINK I SHOULD GO TALK TO JADE NOW, bEFORE SHE LOGS OFF,

AC: :33 i will! okay, and good luck with jade tavros! :33

AT: uH,, yEAH, tHANKS,,,

AT: gOODBYE NEPETA,

AC: :33 bye!

**adiosToreador [AT] ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]**

Nervously, you crack your knuckles, mentally pumping yourself up to talk to Jade. How you wish Rufio was real, or that you had a nice moirail to help you out. You punch the air a few times for moral boosting, and then pull a chat window up before you decide against it.

**adiosToreador [AT] began trolling gardenGnostic [GG]**

AT: uHHH,, hI JADE,, }:)

GG: tavroosss! hi! :D

GG: you haven't messaged me in forever, how are you?

AT: i'M DOING VERY GOOD, i WAS WONDERING ABOUT YOU,

AT: i MEAN,,, hOW YOU'RE DOING,, tHAT IS,

AT: i DON'T WONDER ABOUT YOU,,, tHAT WOULD BE uHH, wEIRD,

GG: hahaha i'm doing good too, i've been worried about you!

GG: being all alone in the middle of such a place must be scary :(

AT: i'TS NOT SCARY AT ALL,, tO ME,,, zOMBIES ARE NOTHING,

AT: i'VE BEEN BEATING ANY ZOMBIE,,, tHAT COMES NEAR ME,

GG: whatever you say, but i still think zombies are appalling

GG: are you sure you've been okay? i can try really hard to transport you here!

GG: i've offered to my other friends but they always decline

AT: i WILL BE OKAY, i PROMISE, aND i REMEMBER THAT YOU TOLD ME, tRANSPORTING BIG THINGS, oR TOO MANY THINGS, hURTS,

GG: well it does, but i wouldn't mind if it could help my friends!

GG: i don't want to sound selfish, but it's lonely here with only grandpa :(

AT: jUST CONCENTRATE, oN HELPING IN OTHER WAYS, lIKE TRANSPORTING NECESSARY SUPPLIES,, wHEN YOU CAN,

AT: bESIDES, gAMZEE AND NEPETA, SHOULD BE HERE SOON,

AT: nEPETA SAID, tHAT THEY WERE ABOUT 25 MILES AWAY, a FEW MINUTES AGO,

GG: AND nepeta?

GG: i thought gamzee was all by himself!

AT: hE WAS, i HAVE NO IDEA HOW, tHEY UH, eNDED UP ON THE SAME BOAT,

GG: but, if gamzee and nepeta are going to be here soon, then wouldn't eridan be here any minute?

AT: oH, yEAH, dIDN'T HE LEAVE BEFORE THEM?

GG: oh my god you're right! he'll be here any minute :O!

GG: uuuuggh

GG: aradia said he's kind of creepy, i hope he doesn't try hitting on me again

AT: i DON'T THINK HE DOES THAT ANYMORE, bUT NEPETA WILL BE ABLE TO HELP YOU WITH THAT,,, hE'S HIT ON HER BEFORE, i THINK,

GG: okay! hanging out with your friends is better than having to deal with grandpa 24/7 anyway :)

AT: rIGHT,, tELL YOUR GRANDPA,,, i'M SORRY FOR KILLING HIM EARLIER, i DID NOT KNOW HE WAS IMPORTANT, dUE TO CULTURAL DIFFERENCES,

GG: he'll forgive you, no worries

GG: he was so much harder to deal with when he was dead :/

AT: i'M NOT SURE, hOW THAT CAN BE POSSIBLE,, bUT OKAY,

GG: !

AT: ,,,,,

GG: wooooaahh!

AT: wHAT?

GG: i think eridan has arrived! :O

AT: rEALLY,,

GG: yeah! My grandpa is complaining about a guy with gills and glasses!

GG: i've got to go! bye tavros! it was fun talking with you :D

GG: 33

AT: oKAY, sAY HI TO ERIDAN FOR ME,

AT: 3

**gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering adiosToreador [AT]**

That was a bit of a surprise for you, but this is the first time she's typed out a 3 to you in awhile. You assume that Eridan will be a handful, but you're glad she won't be so alone anymore. Jade was so nice, you wish some of your other friends could be as nice as her.

You captchalogue your husktop, and jump down from the tree. One of the ups of having metal legs is increased strength, jumping down from high places doesn't harm you as it would other trolls. You survey your settings, an old summer camp. The cabins are all empty, several were set on fire, and the rest were knocked over when the campers met the virus.

You don't like going over there though, there's a very strange zombie that resides over there. It's always sobbing in a dark corner, and hisses when you get too close. You've decided to circle around the camp, and leave it alone.

You walk nervously around the town, glancing over your shoulder every few minutes, even if you know there's nothing there. You circle around the left side of the camp, behind the cabins. Windows are knocked through, and you spot a few half-eaten campers littering the ground. You swallow nervously, and continue on. Around mid-point, you hear the gross sobbing of the zombie. Almost petrified by terror, you force your legs to keep moving.

After a walk that seemed to last an hour, the sobbing grows fainter. Sighing in relief, you pick up the pace, and exit the camp. You look back once more, the ruined buildings leering at you. You can't help but feel sorry for the zombie left behind, sobbing her eyes out until the virus kills her again. Turning back around, you cross a bridge, onto an old human bike path. You know it's just your imagination, but the trees seem to lean towards you.

**== Be the human that has a guest**

You are now Jade Harley, and you are very excited! You finally get to meet one of the trolls in real life, even if it's Eridan. Tavros told you he might be tough to deal with, but Nepeta and Gamzee should be there soon too anyway. You transport yourself downstairs, and bump into your grandpa along the way. He smiles warmly at you, and points out the door.

You run outside, and over near the beach you catch a glimpse of the troll. He's standing by a regular fishing boat, typically used by suburban dads to catch fish. As you get closer, you can see a long and ragged striped scarf, over-sized glasses, and a rather scuffed up looking purple cape. He's squinting in the bright sun, but doesn't look too surprised to see you. He's got gills, that twitch ever so slightly, and his clothing style is very harry-potter esque. He's wearing tons of bright gold jewelry, which is unusual. You thought trolls hated fashion, except Kanaya. You shrug it off mentally, and greet him.

"Hi! You must be Eridan, am I right?" You smile cheerfully at him.

He looks like he's about to scowl, but decides not to, and gives you a half-smile instead.

"I am. You'vve got to be jade then. Thanks for lettin me stay at your island."

You notice his accent is similar to his typing quirk, the v's morphing into w's, and enunciating the ending 'in' sound at the end of 'ing'.

"It's the least I can do, no need to be grateful! It's nice to meet you, I was getting worried that no one would be able to get here."

You attempt to make chit-chat, waiting for anyone else to arrive, or to see if he can tell you what it's like on the main land.

"It might take the landwwellers longer to get here than seadwwellers, but that's natural a course."

There's his quick again, this time it's doubling his w's and turning 'of' into 'a'.

"Seadweller? Oh, right, you have that silly caste thing. So you can really breathe under water?"

"You ask a lot a questions compared to the other humans. Yeah trolls havve a caste system, I assume humans don't need it since you all havve the same low blood color anyhoww, and yes, I can breathe under wwater. Not to cut off this pointless convversation, but I'm exhausted, can wwe go in your hivve?"

He does look exhausted, dark grey ringlets hang under his eyes, signaling lack of sleep.

"Oh, sure, follow me!"

You lead him into your hive, and he comments on how brightly lit it is. You forget that trolls were once nocturnal and are probably sensitive to sunlight. You draw the curtains on a few windows, trying to decrease the sunlight. Though Eridan is tired, that doesn't stop him from inspecting your house for a few minutes. He makes remarks about the house's flowers that you've planted. He even tried to eat one, claiming it smelled like one of his favourite foods back on Alternia.

You laugh a little, and lead him upstairs to where you've hoarded all the old Sburb equipment. There's the carved totems, alchemizer, and tons of punched cards lying around the floor.

"So do you have the code for your old recuparacoon?"

"Fuck if I remember. Can't you just alchemize some sopor and be done wwith it?"

"I could, but where would I put all that slime? I need a container." You purse your lips in mild irritation.

"Wwhy don't you size a bowwl up or somethin and use that."

That's actually a decent idea. You pull a clean flower pot from your sylladex, and concentrate hard on your space powers. The pot glows green, and expands slowly. When it's reached about a foot higher than Eridan, you stop increasing it's size, making things too big is impossible.

You take the card of one of Gamzee's sopor pies, and alchemize a pie. Again, using your space powers you size the pie up until your left with a pie tin the size of a boat. You pour the slime into the pot, and almost collapse. You're beat, anymore use of your powers and you'd pass out for sure.

Eridan looks impressed. He holds his hand out, and helps you stand up again.

"You did a good job, for a human." He says, as if he wants to compliment you, but also demean you at the same time.

Out of breathe, and tired, you take it as a compliment.

"You're welcome, you can sleep whenever, but try not to get slime everywhere." You wrinkle your nose at the pot of slime, still amazed by how trolls can even sleep in it without suffocating.

"For noww I'd rather just rest outside, maybe wwait for the others to get here." He says aloofly.

You nod, feeling a bit awkward. "Okay, I think I'll wait too, it'll be fun to meet more of you guys."

Without even waiting for an answer, you transport yourself downstairs. Eridan follows shortly after. You walk outside, and sit down in the sand. Eridan stays under the porch, trying to get the sun out of his eyes. You build sand castles until the sky turns a reddish colour, indicating that it will soon be dusk. Eridan even builds a castle eventually, and after about an hour you notice a ship approaching. It's bigger than a boat, maybe a small yacht. You grin and wave excitedly, signaling the boat to dock by the pier.

The yacht pulls into the pier; you and Eridan run up to the front, ready to greet the trolls inside. The first one jumps straight off the side, not even bothering with the ladder. She flips in the air once and lands gracefully on all fours. She's wearing an oversized green overcoat, that's dirty and ripped. She's also wearing a torn black shirt, with the leo symbol printed on it, tight grey sweats, and a blue hat with a cat face sewn on it. She grins happily at you, flashing a set of dangerous looking canines, then looks above the deck, and motions her hands for someone to come down.

A very tall troll, leans over the side, and climbs down the ladder. He jumps down clumsily next to her, and even though he's slouching he's got to be over a foot taller than the other troll. He's wearing a similar black shirt, with the capricorn symbol printed on it. The shirt is almost covered in red and indigo blood. He's wearing black sweats speckled with large grey circles. His arm is covered in scraps of shirt, and there are 3 long scars covering his face you can't help but stare at. He doesn't grin like the other girl does, but lazily smiles instead. The girl with the cat-themed outfit bounds over to you, and you swear she meowed a little.

"Hi! Are you the human named Jade?" She almost yells the question at you, as if she expected you to not understand her.

You reply with equal volume, "Yes! It's nice to finally meet you, and welcome to my island! You've gotta be Nepeta, I'm sure!" Maybe it's customary for trolls to yell everything? Then again, Eridan certainly hadn't done that.

"Hee hee yup, and this is Gamzee." She motions to the tall troll, who just nods at you in response. Eridan doesn't say anything, which surprises you. He looks a bit. . .left out? You're not sure how to describe it. But you guess he doesn't care for these trolls as much as his other friends, and seems out of place.

Nepeta glances at Eridan, and the conversation dies down. Gamzee refuses to acknowledge him, and Nepeta won't even look at him. You glance at Eridan, then at the other trolls. You honestly did not expect the situation to be so. . .awkward.

"Sooo. . .did any of you have a rough time getting here?" You try to insinuate a conversation, maybe forcing them to interact.

"Oooh my pawsh! You wouldn't believe what we had to go through to get here, Gamzee crash-landed on the island I landed on, and he broke his arm. . ." Nepeta bursts into conversation, rambling meaninglessly, sounding a little nervous. Meanwhile, Gamzee is staring at her with blunt confusion. Even Eridan raises an eyebrow. Nepeta talks like this non-stop, before Gamzee pats her shoulder and kindly reminds her to take breathes in between sentences. Nepeta's cheeks turn an olive tinge, and she falls quiet again.

"We haven't had to much sleep or eat lately, do you mind if we get our talk on later?" This time Gamzee speaks, and he points out the obvious. Eridan is still tired, and he looks sad now. Maybe he was expecting more of a happy greeting from his friends.

"Oh, sure! I'm sorry, but I've already used up my god-tier powers for the remainder of the week, and I bet you wouldn't want to share a coon with Eridan. I have some beds made up for you, if that's okay." You motion for them to follow you back into your house. Nepeta stares in wonder at your plants, the ones that bloom in the night are the most beautiful. Gamzee stares at the ocean view out your windows.

Once upstairs, you move Eridan's recuparacoon into a spare room, give him a quick goodnight, and he says something unintelligible. You show Gamzee and Nepeta your bedroom, and to wake you up if they need anything. You also have to explain what a bed is, and how to sleep on one. They had no idea what a blanket is, nor a pillow. Finally, they nod in understanding and walk back to their room.

You are pretty tired from expending so much of your powers, and it's very late; getting some sleep would be best for you. You close your eyes, and wait for your thoughts to slow down so you can rest.

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><p><strong>- LocoChocoTaco - Thank you! Sorry for being a bit late. They are all on America, scattered everywhere<strong>

**- ElfenBloodMage - Thanks! I had great fun coming up with them. I sadly haven't played LFD2, I've seen a few gameplays but I bet it's a very cool level!**

**- Kitty-Bandit - Thank you! I'm glad you like the story uvu**

**- Icecestro Xi - Like I've said, I've pre-written everything and editing in a whole introduction would take too long. I can give you a spoiler though, he's in an old library, on the second level. He knocked the staircases out so the zombies can't get it.**

**- Shadowcyrse - Thanks! You didn't seem like it! And I didn't mean it like that, that's just how I tend to type? And yeah, like I said I can see what you're trying to explain but since this is all metaphorical there's not much to debate! You should submit it to Homestuck-Headcanons though, you explained it very well. Since Terezi is wearing her FLARP outfit the blood is on the outside of her costume, I imagine the outfit to have a high collar protecting her neck. Though washing it off would be best. Also, I agree very much with Kanaya being street-smart. She's not all ~*classy*~ like most think. 'I Made Him A Wand So He Would Shut Up' is literally a quote of hers.**

**- Kyroma - Thanks! I've never written for a sober Gamzee, (well once in an rp but I probably sucked seeing how that was almost a year ago) but I can assume that now it will be very fun!**

**- Fiesta en mis Pantalones O - Same! Thank you uvu**

**- anon - Probably not, but i may change my mind later on**

**- Fiesta en mis Pantalones O - I was planning on doing that, but it's going to be difficult considering how things went last time she tried stopping Sober!Gamzee**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: WOW over 100 reviews? Thanks guys! I really really appreciate it, I never expected this story to get so much attention! I've also sketched out some basic refs of the character's outfits/designs and a few bits of their locations, I'll be scanning and uploading them to imgur soon. When I update again I'll try to add the link, and if ff doesn't let me I can simply put it on my tumblr. **

**Okay, so now I'm going to try and 'explain' what the hell I was thinking as I wrote this chapter, as I always do. This one I wanted to be pure plot, no drives by relationships, just conflict and references to amazing videogames and tv shows. I got my inspiration from _The Walking Dead, _a great TV show. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend giving it a watch! I am aware that the show started in 2010, which is after the 2009 Reckoning in Homestuck, but I thought for this AU the Reckoning reversed, and TV shows that were meant to be aired but didn't, have a second chance. **

**I also included a few headcanons here, the highbloods having the ability to hold their breathe for awhile is actually a pretty popular headcanon, so I'm not taking credit for it. But I do think that when angered, sea dwellers' fins puff up and they make some sort of angry hissing sound. Like pufferfish I guess?**

**Also, the lussi are going to be discovered(not yet but soon)! I can't figure out a way to make them able to talk though, the only way they could do that before was being prototyped, but there are no kernel sprites with to do that. I also apologize if the next few chapters are late, I'm going to try and write for a Sober!Gamzee (since so many people were interested in that), so I need to edit a lot of the story. I'm also going to try and edit some of the earlier chapters, and when I do I'll be sure to announce so you guys can get some new content, if you like.**

**School will be over very soon for me, and as soon as it ends you can bet I'll be writing a lOT.**

**One last thing, as a great suggestion from Shadowcyrse, who suggested that I recap on characters I haven't written for in order to refresh memories, I'll reiterate Feferi, Aradia, and Vriska's locations.**

**- Aradia is near an old radio tower**

**- Feferi is in a ravine, near a mountain (Rocky Mountains)**

**- Vriska is in a wildlife refuge (Aftre re-reading I realized I never actually wrote that out, silly me)**

**Please do review if you enjoy the story!**

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><p><strong>== Be the cat troll who's just awoken.<strong>

You are now Nepeta Leijon, and you've just woken up. Pale sunlight has filtered through the curtains in the room Jade set up for you. You stretch your arms, blanket tangled around you. Gamzee is still asleep, snoring pretty loudly. You blink sleep out of your eyes, and woozily get up. Peeking your head out of the door, you don't see anyone. The sky is still pink, and you can hear birds starting to wake up. After wandering for a bit, you come to the conclusion that it's still too early for anyone to be up and about. Contradicting your previous statement, you hear someone open a door behind you, and you nearly jump out of your skin in surprise.

An elderly human just opened the door, and he stares at you in puzzlement. After a few seconds the puzzlement turns into a warm smile. You're not sure why, but this human reminds you of your lusus. He has that appearance, the one that reminds you of your childhood, and a feeling of nostalgia washes over you. He doesn't make any move to hurt you, but instead tips his hat at you in greeting. Not sure whether to run, or tip your own blue hat back in greeting, you just dip your head in recognition.

"Hello young lady, are you looking for anything?" He asks. He has an odd accent, it sounds different from Jade's speech. You wonder if human's speech changes as they get older. What a weird species.

"Um no, I'm just exploring your hiv- house. I think Jade is still asleep. Do you know when she might wake up?"

"Knowing Jade, she'll probably be awake in a half hour to check on her plants. I apologize for not introducing myself, I'm Jade's grandfather."

"Grandfather? What's a grandfather?" The question perplexes him, he turns his head sideways, a gesture you saw Jade make earlier last night. They do look alike in some way, the same sort of buck-toothed smile, the same sense of cheerfulness. Maybe he's her guardian, like John's dad you've heard about.

"You have those great white beasts as your guardians, am I correct?"

"They're called a lusus, but yes."

"For cultural simplicity, let's just say I'm Jade's lusus."

You could see him being a lusus, but still, having an older version of the same species taking care of you seems weird. The old man tips his hat at you one last time, before going down the stairs to a different room. What an odd guy.

After a few more minutes of teetering through her hive, you go back into your room. Gamzee is still asleep, but he's stopped snoring so loudly. You look at her flowers for some time, before there's a knock on the door. You walk over and open it, Jade is standing there smiling.

"Good morning Nepeta! Did you get a good nights sleep?" She announces happily.

"I did, it was a lot better than any sleep I've had lately. Beds are a lot better than sand!" She peeks her head in the room, seeing Gamzee still asleep.

"Oops! Sorry, I thought he would be awake by now. I just stopped by to let you know I have some breakfast made, I'm sure you haven't eaten properly in awhile, have you?" She whispers her next few lines. It doesn't really matter though, you and Gamzee had the best hearing out of the trolls. Especially compared to Feferi and Eridan, whose gills almost covered their ears.

"I'll wake him up, and come down fur brehkfust soon." You have no idea what a brehkfust is, but she mentioned eating. Jade walks out of the room, long black hair swishing behind her, reminding you of a cat's tail.

You walk over to Gamzee, and give his arm a prod. He only pulls the covers over his head.

"Gamzee! Get up, Jade has brehkfust ready for us!" You coax. There's still no response. You've no clue as to how he ever woke up himself on the old island. Exasperated, you grab his horns, and pull his head up. His eyes snap open, and he blinks at you.

"Come on, Gamzee! Wake up, Jade's made brehkfust for us."

He only rubs his eyes, and yawns loudly. You mumbles something along the lines of, what-the-fuck-is-brehkfust. You wait for him at the door, and he climbs out of the bed drowsily.

Gamzee is obviously not a morning person when woken up forcibly. He stumbles after you, practically tripping over his shoes, which he hasn't bothered to tie, nor taken off to sleep. You transport yourselves downstairs, where Jade is laying out plates for brehkfust. You take a seat at the table, which like almost all the other furniture, is pure white. She scoops two eggs, and two strips of porkbeast onto your plate. She lays a huge plate of some round brown circles, a stick of something yellow, and a cup full of sticky brown stuff. You prod your eggs, it's the only food you really recognize. Gamzee seems to be waking up a little, and wolfs down the food on his plate in a matter of minutes. He makes the food seem good, but then again he'd been eating antlerbeast for the past week.

Eridan joins you at the table shortly, and he too wolfs the food down after he tasted it. Jade is an even faster eater then both of them, inhaling the brown circles until she picks her plate up and puts it in a square box filled with water. Gamzee looks at your plate, still full.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" He asks. You stare down at your plate, and try some of the eggs. They are good, but they probably taste better because you've been living off raw meat. You eat the rest of your meal, the porkbeast tasting the best. You try one of the brown squares, something Jade calls "pancakes", but they're too sweet for your pallet. You dump your dishes in the watery sink, and Jade frowns when they make a cracking noise.

"So, what's the world like outside of the island?" Jade asks curiously. She seems very eager to hear what her friends have had to go through. Not wanting to worry her, you decide to 'tone' the worse parts of the world down.

"It's not too bad! If things go well, your species could make a comeback. We survived easy enough."

Gamzee looks at you in confusion. He starts a sentence, "Are you su-" You kick his foot, signaling him to shut up. Jade looks suspicious, and her brow furrows as she processes your words.

"Okay, that sounds different from what the others have told me. But maybe it was easier to live on your island? Eridan, what do you think?" Eridan, who has been oddly silent, looks up with disdain.

"It's fuckin' awwful out there. Zombies are evverywwhere, I havven't met a single human survvivvor, and all a the towwn I was in had been destroyed. Not like it matters though, zombies don't bother me." The way he delivers those few sentences, despite he probably didn't realize how cruel it was, crushes Jade. Her face falls completely, and it's the first time you've seen her unhappy. She whispers, 'oh', and sits down on one of the table's chairs. Eridan, sensing he said something wrong, tries to compensate for the damage.

"I mean, it's really not _that_ bad. I wwas in a really populated spot, there's probably loads of survvivvors in the rural places. And there's only a handful of us, wwe havve no idea wwhat it's like in other places a the wworld." He has a few good points, but Jade just nods silently.

"Don't worry about it Jade! I've been keeping an eye on efurryone, no one has been hurt badly, and they have purrlenty of food!" You attempt to console her, but it must be heart-breaking to be one of the only humans left, surrounded by flesh-craving virus blocks. You know being one of the only trolls left isn't any fun. She smiles at you, and tries to regain her cheerful composure. But it looks unnatural, forced and it doesn't sit right.

"Thanks guys, I'm probably just overreacting a little bit, like I always do." And with that, Jade promptly collapses and falls straight over. It takes everyone a moment to react, but when you do, you rush over, hoping she didn't die somehow. She snores loudly, letting you know she's definitely still alive. Eridan prods her a little, but she doesn't move.

"Is she. . .motherfucking asleep?" Gamzee asks.

"Obvviously, she must not havve gotten enough sleep last night or somethin'."

"That motherfucking sucks, I could go for a sopor pie about now." Gamzee announces. You glare at him, angry all he cares about right now is pie. But his eyes do look redder than usual, and he hadn't eaten sopor in a long time.

"Eridan has slime, you could eat that." You suggest.

"No wway am I lettin' some landdwweller eat my recuparacoon for dessert." Eridan says haughtily.

"Not like I'd want to eat anything he's slept in anyway." Gamzee mumbles.

You growl in frustration. Then you remember Jade's grandfather, maybe he can help! If he's her lusus, then he should know what's wrong.

As if on cue, Jade's grandfather walks down the stairs to the kitchen. He's the only one who uses the stairs in the first place. He notices Jade laying on the floor, and chuckles a bit. You can't believe her own lusus would chuckle at her, from his perspective she might look dead. Noticing your horrified glance, he shakes his head.

"You don't need to worry one bit about Jade, she's fine. She has a disorder called narcolepsy. It causes her to fall asleep at random moments, and it can be a real nick in my boots sometimes. She'll wake up soon, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as always." And with that, he disappears into another room.

You aren't sure what he just said, but at least she'll wake up soon. Maybe then Gamzee can get some sopor, and you can ask her how to charge your husktop. After waiting for a few minutes, Jade sits upright suddenly, nearly hitting Gamzee in the process. She looks around, and then her cheeks tinge a pink hue.

"Did I fall asleep again?"

"Yeah you did, but some old man told us you havve somethin' called narcopsly and said you'd be fine."

"Oh, he's right! If I fall asleep randomly, just let me sleep. I usually wake up pretty soon after that. The old man was my grandpa, he's kind of like my caretaker."

"I've met him befur, earlier this meowrning when efurryone was still asleep."

"He's so much easier to deal with now that he's alive, trust me, you guys would not like him when he's dead."

You're not sure how to react to that. Hopefully she wasn't the one that killed him.

"Wwhat the fuck is a grandpa?"

"It'd be really hard to explain to an alien, but he's my guardian. I think he's supposed to be the equivalent of a lusus. They're called lusus' right? What's the plural for that?" Jade rambles a bit, still flustered from her nap.

"They're called Lussi when purral." You answer.

"Oh, and Jade, I hope it's not too much trouble, but can you get some clean sopurr for Gamzee? He could really use some." You ask, hoping he won't have to go much longer without it. Gamzee being completely sober is terrifying.

"I'm not sure, my god-tier powers have been really drained, anymore and I could hurt myself. I'll try and make some as soon as possible tomorrow, is that okay?"

She looks worried, and you think it must be scary to loose so much power that used to be at her disposal. You glance at Gamzee, you wouldn't know if he really needed slime or not. He looks back at you, eyes still a little too red for your own good. But he's not looking you in the "I'm going to bludgeon your skull in and then decapitate your head" kind of way, but more in a "I have a headache" kind of way.

"I'll be fine, it's only one more day." He says confidently. Jade looks at him, her expression flits to mild fear, then to just suspicion. Even Eridan looks fidgety, and nervous. This ticks you off a little, he did say he'd be fine. Though it's no surprise they're cautious. Even in the back of your mind, you're frightened. You're angry at yourself for thinking that, but the thought still creeps in the corner of your mind.

"Wwell are wwe just going' to stand here staring at gam, or are wwe going' to do somethin' wworth doin'." Eridan breaks the silence. Honestly, now that you're safe and sound on the island, you're not sure what to do. There are no zombies to fight, Jade's god-tier powers have already been spent, and your husktops are still charging.

"Unfortunately, there's not much here to do. We can talk, but we've only just met, and I don't want to impose. Or, we can explore the island. Grandpa said there used to be white animals on the island, that sound like your lussi." She exclaims.

You blink curiously at the latter of her statement. Gamzee perks up, and even Eridan pays closer attention. Lussi here? Your heart aches, you miss Pounce so much. She was the best lusus ever. She did say 'used to' though, and your hope flies away.

"Have you efur seen any white animals here?" You ask, trying not to get your hopes up again.

"Myself? A few times, yes. But Bec whisked me away before I got too close."

"Really? What did they look like?" You asked excitedly. If there's any chance that Pounce is still here, you'll search the entire island. Even around the volcano.

"I've seen flocks of little fairy bulls, but I think there's only one left, also a flying dragon, a weird looking crab, and a goat-thing in the water, Bec really didn't like the goat, whenever he smelled it, I was back at the house in almost an instant." She remarked, sounding disappointed like she really wanted to meet this goat creature. Gamzee sits completely up-right at this, eyes widening.

"Goat? Did he have wavy horns? And a tail?" He asks, jubilance barely hidden. Jade nods, and he looks ready to jump out of the chair and run a few laps around the island.

"Can we leave right motherfucking now? Is it okay if we look for those white animals?" Gamzee rapidly asks the questions, jumping out of the chair, giving Jade only a millisecond to say 'sure' before bounding out of the room. Rolling your eyes, you run after him, Jade and Eridan following.

Jade takes the lead, as she's obviously the only one who actually knows where she's going. Jade leads you back outside, to the beautiful white beach, untouched by pollution. The volcano leers in the distance, and tropical birds screech back and forth at each other. The ocean fills your nose with a strong salty scent, and you take a step back. You never liked water, whether it's because your habit of pretending to not like it in order to be more feline, or just because you don't like water, you don't know.

Gamzee walks along the edge of the water, occasionally throwing rocks in, or whistling sharply. You bet he's looking for his lusus. You wonder what kind of lusus Gamzee had, it must not have been a very good one if it willingly let him eat sopor slime. He described it as a goat with a tail, but that doesn't make any sense to you. Why would a land dwelling troll have a sea dwelling lusus?

Eridan searches around the bay for a little while, before removing his glasses, scarf, and cape, and diving straight in the water. Gamzee watches the display, and you notice he looks. . .jealous? Did Gamzee want to swim too? When on your island, he always got wistful looks on his face when he was faced with the ocean. Especially when on the boat, he leaned over the side of the railing, and tried to touch the water as the boat sped on. His arms weren't nearly long enough though, but he tried. You walk over to him, and poke his arm. He smirks at you, the jealousy vanishing.

"Can you swim Gamzee? You always look at the ocean, but nefur try swimming."

"I don't know if I can. The only advice the old goat gave me was to stay away from the ocean, so I did. I've only been in the ocean a couple of times."

You assume "the old goat" was his lusus. His only advice was to stay away from the ocean? Gamzee must have had a rougher upbringing than you'd imagined.

"Could you swim when you went in the ocean those few times?"

"Not really, I only went in there when motherfucking seadwellers got tired of me hanging around the beach and tried to drown me."

You blink in shock. That was not what you thought Gamzee meant when he didn't know if he could swim.

"I like to think swimming would be really fun, and I bet on Earth it's even better cause there's nothing trying to eat or drown you constantly. Can you swim?" He says optimistically.

"No, I don't like water furry much. Maybe Eridan can teach us sometime. And how did you escape the seadwellers?"

You hope he has a great story for this. Before Sgrub, you never thought of Gamzee having much strength or fighting prowess. He must have some skill though, after surviving so long.

"I can't motherfucking remember half of the encounters too well, mostly just flash backs of bubbles and water. I think since I'm so close to being purple on the scale I can hold my breathe longer. The ones I can remember, goat dad would save me or I'd just pretend I'd been killed, and run back to my hive later."

"Gosh that sounds terrifying! Drowning has got to be the worst way to die."

Before Gamzee can reply, Eridan over-dramatically bursts from the water. He looks sullen, and he obviously didn't find his lusus. But, he only explored a small portion of the island's reef, his lusus is probably around one of the other coves.

"No luck, huh?" Gamzee reiterates your thoughts.

"Of course I didn't havve any fuckin' luck, wwas that not clear?"

Gamzee flinches away from Eridan, knowing that anything could set him off. Eridan glowers at him one last time, then puts his scarf and cape back on tautly. You don't know why, the island must be in the 80's at least. Even you aren't wearing your favourite jacket or hat. Jade raises her eyebrows at Eridan, but doesn't say a word. Eridan makes a noise that sounds like a half-hiss, half-growl. It's an old troll noise, one that expresses irritation and anger. You're surprised he used it, but maybe seadwellers were used to different ways of talking. Eridan walks ahead, past your field of vision into the jungle.

Jade crosses her arms, a position you know humans make when they're annoyed or upset.

"I'm sure the motherfucker has just been having a rough time. When his husktop is all charged up maybe Feferi can talk some sense into him." Gamzee says, trying to cool Jade off. You think Karkat is very lucky to have such a great moirail, he just has that easy to talk to personality. You make a note to start a new shipping chart, and add Eridan with Feferi to it. Jade beckons you both to follow her, before Eridan does something stupid or gets lost. After walking a few miles, you hear Eridan yelp and some tree branches crash.

In the commotion, you and no one else notices the volcano in the background purculating in the distance.

**== We haven't been one of the kids in awhile. Be the windy kid.**

You are now John Egbert, and the weird thoughts such as these that pop into our head are getting more and more ridiculous. Who even thinks a thing like that? Apparently you do.

**== Shut up and write some god damn plot.**

Write? You aren't writing anything, don't be weird. You don't have time to stop and have a decent meal, rather than write properly. You have just come to the edge of the city, you've come to the knowledge that you're in the city San Francisco, the only thing that's separating you from the Pacific ocean. Only a huge bridge filled with rotten corpses that will eat you as soon as they smell the life in your veins.

Dave proposed the most horrible solution to the problem. It worked in a comic called the _Walking Dead_ and by god it may be the only way for you to get out of this mess unscathed. You're going to have to cover yourself in guts, masking your scent, and walk/fly over the bridge. Oh, how you dearly missed your wind powers. They would have come in so much handy for this.

Currently you're balancing a top an old fashioned city lamp, the city's electricity has burned out all the way, and the huge bulb is now dull and blank. Dawn is approaching, the sky is beginning to turn from prussian blue to a pale cotton candy. The city is so very quiet, the silence is worse than the moans of the zombies. It's sad to think that once, this freeway would be full of lively people, bustling along with cars and the chorus of radio music turned up to full volume, mingled with peppered swear words of impatient drivers, and finally topped with car after car horn honking. You sigh, wishing that you could go back and enjoy the days living in your town with Dad. You'd be catching fire flies, or trying to make every moment last.

But it doesn't matter anymore. Your friends of time can only go back in time about 5 minutes, 5 years is unthinkable. Time doesn't matter anymore either, it's one of the things in life that you no longer need to worry about. All that matters now is staying safe, and staying alive. Jade said to try not to worry about anyone else, since everyone else is spread out over the country and you don't have a partner. She basically said, "Don't give two shits about anyone else but yourself, you're all alone anyway." You know Jade would never mean it like that though.

You try taking your mind off the cloud the dread that's been plaguing you. You think about what Karkat had said to you, freaking out over his moirail hooking up with one of his other friends more than his friend who got hurt. You have such trouble remembering all these trolls crazy quadrant shenanigans. You have no idea what 'being red' means. You think that means the heart symbol, which is the closest they can get to human relationships. At least it wasn't the black spade, that quadrangle (?) sounds dangerous. You don't get how you can hate/love someone, Karkat was right, it was pretty confusing for you to understand. It is an exclusive troll thing.

You squint your eyes, blinded suddenly by the carmine red sunrise. Rose told you the best time to leave would be morning, the period of time when zombies are most groggy. She said the virus likes to rest during the day, making zombies sluggish, and then hunt at night, as the virus prefers darkness over light. (When you asked her how she knew, she said she met a survivor, a doctor, and they told her.)

You put your hood up, and feel your god-tier powers revving up. You've been practicing, pushing yourself farther everyday, and you figured it out. Your powers are just drained from the force it took to beat the game once and for all. The more you play with your powers, and practice using them, the more control and power you get. It's like building up the muscle of a leg you broke, after having it in a cast for weeks.

You feel the wind current pull around you, blue light glowing from the wind in your control. You concentrate harder, the wind gets stronger, building up to 30 mph. You sigh, letting the power go. There's no point in wasting it, especially before this huge bridge you need to cross by the end of the day. The sun rises a little higher. You stand up, jumping off the light post. You walk down to the edge of the road, and hop onto the bridge.

The numerous cars that are scattered about the road are singed, the metal twisted and morphed by fire. You saw government helicopters farther in the city, the government ordered people to go to the cities, instead of leave. They said that the army would protect the citizens, but they were overrun in a matter of hours. You watched it unfold on a TV, when the electricity was still going, and panic was just starting to break out.

The remains of the corpses in the middle of the city were almost too much for you to handle. The army's shields were in a huge circle, the troops were still clutching them, killed either by their fellow troop's misfires, or eaten alive by zombies. But the worst part was the citizens inside. Entire families being eaten alive, no where to run because of the circle stance the army chose to defend with.

The reanimated corpses couldn't even get to you, so cramped by the other dead bodies, and the left over shields. Half of the mass was burned to a crisp by the governments own bombs. It sickens you, to think of how horrible their last moments on Earth must have been.

A groan startles you out of your repulsion. There's only 2, moaning at each other, they haven't caught your scent yet. You remember what Dave told you, and gulp. Gripping your war hammer, tighter you sneak up behind the first, and waste no time bringing the hammer down on its head as hard as possible. The zombie crumples, dying almost instantly. The other one manages to hiss, before you do the same thing. You make sure before both are dead, before doing the grossest thing you've ever done.

You put on a pair of gloves you salvaged, and to put it simply, you grab guts from the zombies, and rub them on a coat pillaged from the same apartment. The smell makes your head real with disgust, and had you anything in your stomach, you'd throw it up right then and there. Deciding the coating of flesh is sufficient enough to cover up your scent, you walk quickly down the bridge.

Coming up at your first major group of zombies, you slow down, shambling like a zombie. Very few of them even notice you, but the ones who do, look at you funny. Not with the normal dead look, but an intelligent look. One that plainly says "One false move and I'll eat you." You even have to moan a little to convince one particularly fresh zombie that you're 'dead'. You had some close calls, one zombie came dangerously close to your neck, but simply growled and walked off again. After about an hour of avoiding death carefully, you see the biggest group of zombies yet. Now would be the time your flight powers would come in handy.

You fly up, just high enough to escape any potential killers, but low enough that you don't expend too much energy. Before you know it, you can see the very end of the bridge. You touch down to the road again, about 50 feet away from the end. Shuffling as quickly as you can without drawing too much attention you make your way to the end. Sighing in pure relief, you shed the coat and gloves, making sure not to get any of the blood in your eyes or mouth.

You almost burst out laughing, the adrenaline has started to lull away, leaving you behind with wobbly legs and exhaustion. You trudge yourself towards a small park, free of anything living or otherwise. Pulling yourself up into a willow tree, the long leaves concealing you from sight, and the wind blowing your scent over a river, where no zombie lurches. Taking one last look at the river, you close your eyes, fatigue taking over.

* * *

><p><strong>- Aka-Chibi - Thank you so much<strong>! **Gosh don't be jealous, I just reread the pesterlogs a lot and try to think of what that character would do in 'x situation'**

**- Shadowcyrse - Sorry, sometimes I forget what's canon and not haha, I kinda assumed she wore a collar,, And wow you have no idea how much the whole 'im lonely and desperate ill fill quadrants with anyone' shtick gets on my nerves. Yeah, Eridan is lonely and sometimes he flirts a lot, but no that is not his defining character trait,,, You can be sure that's what I'm trying to avoid! Had I gone for the Buckets!Eridan, I would've had him flirt with Jade and Nepeta (Which he's done before) Yep, I did that in the A/N! Thank you!**

**- chaosssss - Oh really? Yes, I would like some tips if you have any! Thanks!**

**- ElfenBloodMage - I would play it, but I don't think you can play Left 4 Dead on Macs? Maybe you can purchase it through Steam somehow. Thank you!**

**- Fiesta en mis Pantalones O - Gosh thanks! I think I've said this before, but I only update about once a week. Usually Sundays. :/ø/)**

**- slyphofmind - Wow thanks! You're the lucky 100! mvm**

**- Kyroma - Omg thank you! I will gladly eat my virtual cake with pride UuÚ!**


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: And here's Chapter 18! This will be one of the chapters with OC's in it, but again they will have no relationship whatsoever with any of the canon characters and weren't added simply as plot devices to get the character to a certain location. And again, they'll be killed within a few chapters of their arrival.**

**This is also the first time I've written for Dave! I kinda tried to go for that, 'talks to his self a lot' vibe he had going in the intermission. In his pesterlogs he also tends to ramble, so I tried going for that style. I hope I kept him in character, he was very fun to write for, and also per request I added in vibes of Kanaya3Rose.**

**Not much else to say about this chapter in particular, but I do have a request for the readers of this! I've been working on 'How to Roleplay' guides for certain characters in Homestuck, and I wanted to know for any role-player reading this, which character would you be interested in? I'm writing ones for the trolls and the kids, so if you struggle with any character just let me know in a review. I've written one for Aradia, and I'm starting ones for Gamzee and Eridan soon.**

**Please review if you enjoyed the story! All reviews are replied to in the next chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>== Be the troll that dislocated his ribs awhile ago.<strong>

You are now Sollux Captor. You curse under your breathe, wondering if anyone else has been having these random "Be the" thoughts. You survey your surroundings, a cold town riddled with water treatment plants, and water towers. Seriously, this town was obsessed with water. The fact that you ended up here of all places, just pisses you off even more.

You were lucky enough to find some more bullets for your pistol, and you've been working on limiting your psychic powers to small bursts, like old ray guns. You've been waltzing around the town lately, to pissed to care how many zombies it draws. Sure, it's not the most intelligent decision, but right now you couldn't give any less of a fuck, even if you tried.

You flip off a group of zombies, they're too decimated to even moan in response. Which is kind of disappointing, it doesn't take much for a zombie to be in a bad mood. You hiss at them, and carry on. How you abhor this planet, with all of it's dirty "cities", and resident zombies. The only part about it that you like is the sun not scorching your eyes out. Everything else is weird, and unnatural.

You drag your feet forward, unmotivated to get to the island. You miss spending time with Aradia on the asteroid, and you miss hearing her voice, instead of just reading red text on a computer screen. And you especially miss her silly smile, her completely flat teeth and white teeth rimmed by red lipstick. It could bring you out of your worst bouts of bi-polar mood swings. You also miss Feferi, her giggle was an instant mood booster. She'd make a great moirail, if given the chance. But now was not the time for quadrants, you're still hurt, and you need to find a place to rest

Your ribs are still aching, pulling at your lungs with each breathe. The pain comes in throbs now, in tune with your breathing and heart beat. Thank god you didn't puncture any organs, you would have been dead by now for sure. But still, you can't go on like this much longer. Your ribs will probably get further and further out of place with each breathe, and eventually one of them will just stab your guts open.

Before you have time to imagine your own gory death, a twig snapping startles you. You turn around, nothing in sight but houses lined up next to each other, and some trees. You look at one of the trees for a few minutes, and right as you're about to start walking again, you notice a bit of grey fabric on the side of a tree. Drawing your pistol from your strife, you walk towards the tree, wary of another crazy tongue zombie.

You jump behind the tree, coming face-to-face with whatever horrible freak nature has to offer. The horrible freak of nature squeals softly, and raises a rifle in font of her protectively. You blink a few times, pistol still raised, and stare at the thing in front of you.

It's a human girl, probably around the same age as you, but not as tall. She's got pale skin, dotted with freckles, and a short cut spiky black hair. Her eyes are obscured by heavily blood stained glasses, so you aren't sure of her eye colour. She's a on the chubby side, and her knees are wobbling so much you fathom how she's even standing up. The look in her eyes is one of wild terror, and mental exhaustion. Deciding it's best not to be shot by a human, you lower your pistol, and put your arms up in a gesture of peace. You hope humans recognize the gesture, otherwise you might have just killed yourself.

After some consideration, she lowers the rifle, but doesn't put it down. She scrutinizes you, looking at your oddly coloured eyes and double horns. Getting tired of the act, you attempt to say something, but she interrupts you before you can get more than one syllable out.

"Shut up! Do you want to get us killed?" She whispers the lines, shiny metal braces flashing between her speech. She looks in all directions, making sure there are no zombies around. She grabs your arm very weakly, if not for your fascination with the survivor you'd have torn from her grip by now.

The girl leads you to a small yellow house, one floor by the looks of it. She knocks on the door a few times, rapidly and with a specific beat. A pair of eyes appear at the window, both a dirty green colour. The door opens, and she shoves you inside. Whoever was at the door shuts it again quickly, and locks it. As if that would do much good.

The second human is male, taller than you by about an inch. He's got the same spiky black hair as the girl, it's cut much shorter though. He pulls a knife from seemingly no where, and in minutes the blade is at your neck. The girl pulls at his hands, and he slips the knife in his pants loop (So that's where he was hiding it). She smacks his arm, and he slugs her back. What an odd relationship you think, maybe they'd be a kismesis if humans had troll quadrants.

"Warren! You can't kill him, he's alive!" She scolds him, gesturing to you.

"Well then what the hell is it? Grey skin, candy corn horns, 3-D eyes. It must be a new species of zombie, why didn't you kill it?" You're sure they're arguing over whether to kill you or not. You take a dislike to this dude, he can try to kill you all he wants, he'll get a face full of optic blast.

"Excuse me, but don't I get a say in whether you kill me or not? I'm not an it fuck face, and I'm not a zombie. I won't hurt you, unless you make me." You say irritably, these people were getting on your nerves. The girl doesn't seem surprised at all that you can talk, but the guy's jaw drops.

"Oh, hehe! Sorry about my older brother, he's not the most trustful person. What's your name by the way?" She speaks rapidly, no longer bothering to whisper, and you get another face-full of shiny braced teeth. He brother snorts in annoyance, rolling his eyes at the girl.

"Yeah, I can see that. My name is Sollux, what about you two?"

"My name is Nevvy, I know, weird name for a girl haha, and this grumpy-ass is Warren! It's nice to meet you Thollux!" She laughs to herself, as if she just said the funniest joke ever. Nevvy and Warren? Humans had the weirdest names ever. Warren isn't that bad though, at least it has 6 letters.

"You said my name wrong. It's SAW-LUCKS." You pronounce the name evenly, trying your hardest not to lisp. Nevvy simply laughs again, and Warren makes a sighing noise. You're starting to warm up to Warren.

"So what are you? If you're not a zombie, or a human, then you've got to be an alien or a vampire. Or some dick in a costume."

"Yeah, I'm totally a human employee dressed in a depreciated costume, advertising for exorbitant mattresses."

Warren snorts, and Nevvy gives you a puzzled look.

"Seriously, what are you? Are you an alien? How long have you been surviving here? Do you have a cure?" Nevvy asks curiously.

"Yes, I'm a god damn alien. I don't know, 3 weeks or a month, and no I don't have a cure. If I did then why would there still be zombies?" You reply impertinently.

Nevvy doesn't bat an eye at your brazen remarks.

"Good point! Hey, we're planning on leaving today, to head away from this town. Would you like to come with?"

Warren glowers at her, but she ignores him.

"Which direction are you headed?"

"East, towards more rural areas, like Nevada." She replies.

"Oh why the fuck not, I need to go East in the first place." You say exasperatedly.

Nevvy smiles broadly, before bolting out of the room leaving you in an awkward situation with Warren. He glares at your for a full 5 minutes before Nevvy comes back in the room, toting a huge duffel bag. When you ask her what's inside, she unzips it to reveal about 5 more guns. The only one you recognize is a Marlin CB, a gun best suited for fast moving zombies. This girl knows what she's doing. People don't survive for 3 weeks in a zombie apocalypse for no reason. Warren selects a long black gun. He begins rambling about the significance of the particular weapon he picked, called an AR-15. Since you've no idea what type of gun to use, you pick out a handgun. "Smith and Wesson Model 59" is stamped onto the gun. Warren nods at your choice, apparently approving your taste in weapons, even if you still have no clue what gun is best to use.

Nevvy extracts a few knives from her jacket, completely concealed from you until she pulled them out, and stuffs them into the bag along with the other two guns. She opens another pocket, and pulls out two new knives. Long and serrated, they glint wickedly even in the low light. There are no stains, and they've been thoroughly polished. For a moment, you're glad Nevvy convinced her brother to not kill you, they may have had just a small chance at succeeding. But only a miniscule chance, not enough to beat you certainly.

"What are you two waiting for? I'm outta here!" Nevvy announces, and strides out the door without skipping a beat. Warren shambles at a more leisurely pace after her, and you follow shortly behind.

You walk like that until the sun sinks under the sky, and Nevvy stops you and Warren. In front of you is a huge city, almost all of the lights are out. You can see a few measly lights flickering. Nevvy seems to deflate, and you know she must have spent a lot of time in this city, being so near her house. Even Warren looks a bit more sullen than usual.

"All right, since I'm the only competent one here in matters of survival, you'd better listen up now. When we go in the city, there is no talking. I'm looking at you Nevvy, no talking, unless absolutely necessary. And I mean it when I say, only if necessary. We are not to use our guns, or any weapons that make noise. If you are eaten alive because you made noise, it's not my problem. Don't raid any stores, they aren't worth the trouble. Try to ignore most zombies, they won't attack unless provoked, usually. Still be wary of them. Understood?" Warren schools you about the 'rules' of the city. Like you didn't already know all of this. But it seems he was directing most of it to Nevvy, who loves talking.

"Got it. No superfluous detours, no din, or vociferating." You reply snarkily, hoping to use words she doesn't understand to confuse him. You sympathize with Nevvy for having to put up with her 'brother' all the time. What even is a brother?

Warren blinks at you, and decides it's best not to ask what all those words you just spit out mean. Nevvy salutes, like a military soldier. Without another formulation, he leads you down the slope into the beginnings of the city. Careful not to touch any of the broken down cars (or the corpses inside) proves to be a difficult practice. Nevvy slips between the cars with lissome, and Warren side-steps them easily. You lumber behind, aggravated at your own inexperience. The thought of going into a city hadn't even crossed your mind.

Subsequently, you stop to rest at a 4 way street. You kill off the little zombies that get too close for comfort. The moon shines brightly, not as bright as the sun though. Nevvy leans back for a moment, touching one of the cars. In that second, that one moment she touches the car, you know. You just know what's going to come next. Warren knows it too, he tenses up. It takes a nanosecond for Nevvy to realize what she's done. She jumps back, nearly falling in the process. But it doesn't matter, the deed has been done. The car alarm goes off. The lights flicker on, the leftover gas still powering the lights serving no purpose now other than drawing unwanted attention.

That's when you run. You grab your gun, load it and run without looking back. You hear the horrible screeching and moaning of the undead. You hear the patter of Nevvy and Warren's footsteps behind you. For once, the city is not silent. But now you'd much rather is be dead silence than the unearthly noises you can hear now. A group of zombies comes sprinting at you. The 'fresher' ones are as fast as any living person, where the older ones shamble.

Nevvy isn't a fast runner, and one zombie manages to tear a chunk of flesh out of her arm. Warren sends a few bullets flying through the zombie's skull. Nevvy takes the opportunity and directs you all to an alleyway. He grasps her arm, red blood seeping through and dripping on the ground. The pack of zombies passes the alleyway, and you think you've survived the attack. How very wrong you were. Nevvy collapses, and when Warren leans down to help her stand up her eyes snap open, and she growls hideously. Warren takes a step back, but it's too late, his sister has embedded her teeth into his neck. The both of them are goners. You run, out of the alleyway and eventually Warren's shouts and screams die away. It wasn't cowardly to run, it was common sense. You couldn't save either of them there was no point in staying.

You're kinda of sad that they died, especially in such a gruesome way. You didn't know them very well, or at all. But you enjoyed the company of other sentient beings. At the very least, they helped you cross the city virtually unscathed. You ribs still hurt like hell, but you could have come out of there a lot worse. You're becoming depressed, thinking about what happened today. You had forgotten how serious the world was now. There were no second chances. There were no dream selves, no chances to go god-tier, no ghosts or prototyping. When you died, you died.

Not sure what to do with yourself, you sit down under a tree, and just stare at the sun until your vision is clouded with spots.

**== Be one of the humans**

You are now Dave Strider. Too apathetic to give two shits about all of the people who died in the rising of the decimated zombies. Yep, definitely not caring about your friends, or any of the zombies you cut open like a baked potato. Stoicism has helped you face the rest of the world. It always has, whether it was when the world ended when SBurb started, when Bro died, or now, when sentient life was dying off, struggling to survive against sheer numbers of living virus blocks.

You're not the luckiest guy, in terms of where you started off in the apocalypse. You stowed away in an old clock tower, which doesn't work anymore due to no one winding it or caring for it, and the constant electricity failures. Though you, being the Knight of Time and living in a clock tower has got to be the most ironic thing on the planet. The levels of irony surrounding a nut shell of even more irony are so complex that they might surpass even Bro's understandings.

Putting all the bull-shit unnecessary irony aside, the problem where you're located is not the clock tower, or even the town. The problem is the hospital. It's chock full of people who went to the ER hoping to find a cure, only to succumb to the effects of the virus within hours. There must be hundreds inside, and even more roaming around aimlessly outside. You've tried many times to pass by undetected, but fail miserably. There's a pack of silent zombies, ones with hoods covering their seemingly blind eyes. They somehow always know when you're around, and draw tons of attention to you by screaming loudly while pouncing you. You also think they have a grudge on you, you've killed about 5 of their 'pack' so far, and they weren't too happy about that.

You've tried traveling around the entire town, bypassing it completely, but the things still managed to find you. You suspect they follow you, but still don't know that you're in the clock tower. The point is, they're a pain in the ass and you don't know how long it'll take you to kill all of them. The survivors of the pack, of which there are 4, have gotten more clever. They know your style of fighting, 'seeing' the other 5's deaths. And god knows how long your shitty katana will last. How you wish you had the time to pick up a new one. Time. You miss bending time to your will. Unfortunately, being dropped here has restricted your powers to a very limited amount.

Instead of stopping time, or moving between different timelines, you can only slow it down or speed it up by 5 minutes, and you can't move between the timelines anymore. For all you know, you and everyone else could be in a doomed timeline, taunted by the fact you once truly believed yours was the alpha timeline. The one where not everyone dies. But, if that were the case, then you probably wouldn't have achieved god-tier, and not everyone would be alive. Unless this is all some cruel joke played by a sadistic force.

You've asked Aradia if she has any more luck with her powers, but she can only do as much as you. Same with the other god-tier players. Jade, John, Rose, Aradia, and Vriska. All unable to use their former powers. It's a huge draw-back. Had the powers not been limited, everyone would be on Jade's island, living it up. Bro would be there, all your friends would be there. Heck, you'd even draw dicks all over Karkat's freaky quadrant grids in purple ink again. Anything to get rid of the sense of dread you'd been feeling lately.

Sighing to yourself, you open your laptop. Hoping some familiar friends will be online to greet you. You don't go online very often, maybe once or twice every 2 weeks or so. You're trying to conserve your laptop battery, which has maybe 3-4 hours or so of energy left. After that, you'll have to find some source of power to recharge it. Not like it would help though, eventually it will run out after that, and you'll have to repeat the cycle.

a_rachnidsGrip, centaursTesticle, tentacleTherapist, _and _cuttlefishCuller _are online. The only person you want to talk to on that list is Rose.

**turntechGodhead [TT] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]**

**TG: **hey rose

**TG: **you there

**TT: **I'm here, Dave.

**TG: **kay cool

**TG: **so how are you doing

**TG: **or some shit

**TG: **how the fuck does the world ending make a question awkward

**TG: '**how are you' used to be an obligatory saying the teachers drilled into out heads from a young age

**TG: **now its like

**TG **so how are you

**TG: **oh im doing good

**TG: **other than being eaten by zombies

**TG: **do you think you can give me a hand here and pull this fucking zombie off my neck

**TG: **yeah sure thing buddy

**TG: **seriously

**TG: **but anyway i hope you arent actually being eaten because that wouldve been really insensitive on my part

**TT: **Are you done talking to yourself?

**TG: **are you done being a smartass

**TT: **As much as I enjoy our witty sibling banters, I don't have the time to exchange slurs with you today.

**TT: **But to answer your question, I am doing well.

**TT: **There is nothing quite like entertaining the needs of surviving children while making sure they are not being eaten by zombies.

**TG:** youre still hanging around with those kids

**TG: **how did children even survive an apocalypse

**TG: **youd think theyd be some of the first to be eaten

**TT: **I thought they would not have lasted more than a day, even under my supervision.

**TT: **The oldest has informed me they hid between the walls of houses, only leaving to obtain food or weapons. It was rather ingenious, the walls of the house cover their scent almost entirely, and normal zombies are much to big to fit inside.

**TT: **Other than that, they survived by sheer luck, and an impressive amount of sugary candies.

**TT: **The eldest has a real sweet tooth.

**TG: **what are their names

**TG: **you just call them the eldest or the youngest or the middle child its weird

**TG: **if you dont know their names you can just tell me

**TG: **im still surprised you decided to stick around them

**TG: **they seem like a burden if anything

**TT: **I'm not simply going to abandon 3 children, and a doctor.

**TG: **doctor

**TG: **theres a doctor too

**TG: **and how old are they

**TT: **The children's names are as follows, in chronological order, Flynn, he's 5, Rudy, she's 7 and Florence, she's 10.

**TT: **Yes there is a doctor as well, he's quite reserved and quiet. But I like that, I need a break from the children every once in awhile. And, I'm not aware of his age.

**TG: **jesus youre sounding like mom

**TG: **except not drunk

**TT: **I'll take that as a compliment.

**TG: **So what about you?

**TG: **what about me

**TT: **How are you doing?

**TG: **thats still the worst question to ask

**TT: **im doing fan-fucking-tastic

**TT: **Fan-fucking-tastic is usually interpreted to be sarcasm. I can't hear you, so obviously I can't tell. Was the statement supposed to be sarcastic or not?

**TG: **yes it was sarcasm rose

**TT: **Can I inquire why you chose to be sarcastic?

**TG: **no you cant inquire

**TG: **i take offense to inquiries of every kind

**TG: **dont you know im allergic to inquiries

**TG: **the very knowledge that im aware no one can every inquire me is almost unbearable

**TG: **way to turn a blind eye to my disability and completely ignore my pain

**TG: **you disgust me

**TG: **nah im just yanking your chain

**TG: **shoot me a question

**TT: **First, if you're trying so hard to conserve your battery why do all of our conversations become one-sided, merely you harshing me with your sick blows, when in reality you're mumbling to yourself in a corner?

**TG: **baby i was born this way

**TT: **Secondly, are you going to answer my "question" or not?

**GT: **i was being sarcastic because im having a shit-tastic time

**TG: **im stuck in this clock tower which makes piles upon piles of irony

**TG: **which i guess isnt so bad but the town has a hospital right in the middle of course and this huge pack of zombies has been tracking my every move up until the point where i cant even leave the tower

**TG: **every time i try skirting around them they still somehow find me

**TG: **damn things are getting clever

**TG: **plus my katana is a piece of crap and its going to break pretty much any minute

**TG: **so not to bother you or anything but i could really use some good old-fashioned rose advice

**TG: **rose advice straight from the bakery

**TG: **still warm and gooey with nuggets of self help tips and anti-depressants

**TG: **ok what the fuck am i saying can you just hurry up and answer me so i stop rambling like a lunatic

**TT: **You need to relax first. I'm not an advice guru on some fancy butler island here to dispense my know how on you at any given time.

**TT: **I am only a teenager, there are limits as to what I can do for you.

**TG: **but youre the seer of light cant you see into the future and tell me what happens or something like that

**TT: **Well, like you and everyone else, my powers have been limited. I can only see about 5 minutes into the future or past. In that short amount of time I can't possibly predict what could or will happen to you.

**TG: **are you sure you dont have any godly wisdom for me

**TT: **Oh fine, if it will get you to shut up.

**TT: **If the zombies track your every move, then I'll suggest you lead them into a trap.

**TT: **Something cunning, like leading them off a bridge or into a pit full of explosives.

**TT: **Straight out of the movies.

**TT: **If you're sword is a piece of crap, then locate where the fire arms store is, and raid it.

**TT: **But keep your guard up, I'm making it sound easy.

**TG: **that could actually work

**TG: **ill lead the bastards into the old quarry

**TG: **or i could even lead them into my clock tower and get their heads caught in the gears

**TG: **itd pop their heads off like grapes

**TT: **Does the clock tower still have power left in it? If it doesn't the gears won't not.

**TG: **damn i didnt think of that

**TG: **precarious rocks by the quarry it is

**TG: **now i just need some bait

**TG: **theres no way im using myself

**TG: **do zombies like to eat puppets

**TG: **cause im still up to my eyeballs in them

**TT: **How about you use something less artificial?

**TT: **Perhaps zombies will eat some of those weird dead things you preserved.

**TG: **rose no way

**TG: **those things are sweet im not letting the undead eat them

**TG: **besides theyre all hard and petrified i dont think the zombies would even be able to eat them in the first place

**TT: **Well you'll need to come into possession of something worth eating sooner or later.

**TT: **Do you have any of the food left from the meteor?

**TG: **not much

**TG: **some beef jerky and weird alien food

**TG: **fuck it if i cant find anything else ill just cover myself in steak sauce and write eat me on my forehead

**TG: **thanks for the advice or whatever

**TT: **You're welcome. Next time you need advice can you please ask Kanaya though? Or even Karkat, who has good advice when not dripping with insults and demeaning comments.

**TG: **oh yeah do you still have that thing going on with kanaya

**TT: **Thing?

**TG: **you know what I mean

**TT: **I do not.

**TG: **bull shit

**TT: **I must retire for the evening, the children are begging me to feed them.

**TG: **sure they are

**TG: **seeya rose

**TT: **Goodbye, Dave.

**turntechGodhead [TT] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]**

You shut your laptop, the power now sapped even more. That was almost a colossal waste of time. But at least you have an idea of how to kill the last zombies. You'll make a loud noise, in the old quarry, then run and hide behind a bush to block your scent. When all the little shits are gathered into one place you'll expend the remaining piece of your katana by slashing a bunch or rocks and pushing them in the quarry.

You decide to wait until tomorrow morning though, the sun has set while you were talking to Rose. The clock tower is now eerily quiet and almost pitch black. You curl up in your god tier pajamas, using your hood as a pillow and your cape as a make shift blanket. You wish your Bro was here, even though he'd probably jump out of no where and scare you shitless. At least then you'd have someone else here to protect you. You hate being alone.

* * *

><p><strong>- AzraelChiaroscuro - Thanks! I can't say they'll be up to there full strength soon, but they will eventually. Oh, cool! I'm glad to have a new shipper UvU Oh gosh, really? I assumed it was lussi, I haven't really seen any other way of writing it. Thanks for letting me know, when I go back and edit the chapters I'll add that in.<strong>

**- Fiesta en mis Pantalones O - Thanks! Hehe it's fine. Yep, it's birdiyo. Send me an ask when you follow, I'll follow back!**

**- ShadowCyrse - Thank you! I'm going to try and see if it's available for Macs, or if they'll make one in the future. Thing is, most PC games/programs have made contracts so that they can't release a mac version in 'x' amount of years because of Windows. Oh they will be finding them though! And I actually forgot to mention, that was inspired by some lovely fanart on tumblr. I wish I could link you, but ff doesn't allow it.**

**- AradiaSolluxShip - Thank you! Wow cookie cake is literally my favourite how did you know? **

**- Taurus - Forgive me if I sound rude, but I get a lot of reviews asking for certain characters, and I just can't do that for one person! Tavros is actually one of the most popular characters, are you sure you track the right tags or follow people? (Assuming you have a tumblr, if not I recommend getting one and following the Tavros tag)**

**- knightsVoided - You're not the first hehe! Welcome to the ship I guess? And thanks!**

**- ElfenBloodMage - Oh it turns out it is available for the Mac! I'd better save up and and get it. Oh no, it's fine! I've got finals coming up soon too. Thanks! My tumblr is birdiyo**

**- Fiesta en mis Pantalones O - Oh cool song! Musta been hard typing in that quirk gosh. I like to write songs myself, but I don't think I'm very good at it haha.**

**- chaosssss - Okay! Thank you for the tips, I'll take them into consideration! UvU**

**- Hawkky - Thanks so much! Hey, I'm not the best writer in the world, but I practiced a lot! If you really like writing, just practice, look at your favourite books and ask yourself why you like them so much. Adopt other writings styles, study your favourite writer's styles, and try writing about things you love and see where you get ÒvO!**


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm almost to the 20th chapter! Which is something I want to celebrate, because this chapter is the last pre-written chapter. I have no new content, and from now on I'll have to write 3,000-5,000 words every week. It shouldn't be too hard, school ends in only 9 days and then I should have plenty of time to write!**

**But I may not update this coming week, I have finals, tests, a huge project, and a quiz to study for. After that it's smooth sailing, and I'll be free to write a bunch of new chapters.**

**I also wanted to say I updated the first chapter, I re-wrote some of the dialogue and added a paragraph to describe the setting better.**

**There are some OC's in this story again, I hope someone gets the Doctor reference. They won't be killed off in this chapter, but maybe the next time Rose's POV comes up. For people asking, Equius will be introduced after the next character. Sorry I've held back from his intro for so long, he's just the most difficult character to write for in my opinion.**

**I also applied to be a beta-reader, because I love reviewing other people's stories, but most of the time they don't take my advice seriously so I figured as a beta I might get some people actually looking for critique.**

**Just to let you knows, reviews are as important as ever! Now that I don't have anything pre-written to fall back on if I'm uninspired, I could really really use some motivation. I'd also appreciate critiques, if someone could point out things I need to improve on/suggest ideas for the story I'll gladly you feature you in my A/N, and I'd appreciate it very much!**

**If you have any questions you want to ask, now would be the time. I'm also working on the next FAQ and I don't want anyone's questions to be left out.**

**Please review if you enjoyed the story!**

* * *

><p><strong>== Be the last human<strong>

You are now Rose Lalonde. The once powerful Seer of Light is now cooking beans in a pot with 3 kids jumping off the walls. Not that you mind, they're adorable. But keeping them quiet means they need food when they want it. So, you've stowed away in a small grocery store. The constant strain of animals attacking your home became too much, so you left, towards the nearest town. You boarded all the windows up, and your little powers gave you insight that this was a smart choice. The putrid meat will repel zombies. The collection of facts you and Terezi have collected has helped you deal with zombies. Since most zombies smell putrid flesh when around other zombies, putrid meat gives off a relatively same scent as the undead, which repels them. It's a useful trick. One day you're going to try and create a perfume that smells like rotten meat, it won't be the most pleasant scent but it will be useful.

Seeing that the beans are done, you slop some into 3 bowls, and lay them down on an old free sample table. The children crowd around it hungrily. The first and youngest one, Flynn is small and wiry. He's got a chipped tooth from tripping while being chased, and big blue eyes. His hair is fiery orange and sticks straight up. Rudy, the middle child doesn't look like either of her siblings. She must take after one of the other parents you think. She's chubby, with perfectly straight black hair that's styled like a bowl. The only part of her that looks like her siblings is her blue eyes. The eldest Florence, is like a female version of Flynn. She's thin and scrawny, with hair so orange you're surprised it doesn't attract zombies, or burst into flames.

Flynn wolfs his food down like usual, complaining that he's still hungry. You pick among the remaining perishable foods, hoping that there's still something good to eat. You finally find a package of strawberries that hasn't spoiled yet. You hand him the package, and he's eaten almost all of them within 10 minutes. His sisters savor the food, knowing that they'll have to eat mostly snacks and dry food that's not as perishable soon. Florence is the last to finish, and she runs of to find the last survivor, the doctor. The doctor steps into the room, rounding the kids up without saying a word.

He's a tall gangly fellow, that's always hunched over like he's afraid someone will hit him. He wrings his hands a lot, and always has to be doing something, he can't sit still ever. He has thin glasses framing his long face, always tilted to one side since part of the frame is bent. He has sandy hair, and dark brown eyes. He twitches a lot, and speaks nervously and quietly, which he does rarely in the first place. His name is Maxwell. The kids all call him Max, but you prefer Maxwell. He hasn't given any opinion on his name whatsoever.

Maxwell has the personality of a doormat. Even in pre-apocalypse life people walked all over him. You tried improving his demeanor, but it seems he enjoys being the meek person he is, rather than filled with confidence. But what he lacks in zombie-killing and personality, he makes up for in medical treatment, and extensive knowledge on how zombies operate. How else would you and Terezi have compiled that information, other than Dave's constant rambling about the Left 4 Dead zombies?

The three children crowd around you next, hugging onto your orange god tier pajamas. They've become desperate for human contact, separated from their (presumably) dead parents and relatives. You and Maxwell have become sort of foster parents for them in the mean time. You hope you can bring them all along with you to the island. Maxwell sidles up to the make-shift table, extracting a large paper of some sort from his jacket. He lays it down, and pulls out a pen from the same pocket. He begins to sketch furiously, stopping occasionally to take a bite of food. He's constantly working on 'cures' that could save the race. You think it's a noble cause, but some people are just too rotten to be saved. And if they could be brought back, the memories of them eating their loved ones would cause terrible emotional problems. There is no solution for this world.

After taking a few bites of beans, (then giving the rest to Flynn) you pull your laptop from your sylladex. You confiscated a generator in the warehouse section of the store, still functional. You only needed to turn it on about a day ago, but so far it's proven to be very useful. After making sure it has sufficient battery, you turn it off, waiting until more pleasant people are online to talk to. You're puzzled that Kanaya wasn't online, she's normally on trollian 24/7.

After a few hours of talking to the kids, which consisted mostly of Flynn talking about dinosaurs, you grow bored. You pull your laptop up to a stool, and log on. Dave has logged off by now, and user names have switched with the timezones. g_rimAuxiliatrix, gardenGnostic, terminallyCapricious, arsenicCatnip, caligulasAquarium, _and _cuttlefishCuller _are online. Thank goodness Kanaya is online now, you were beginning to worry. As well as Jade, you might as well ask her how things are going on her island. More trolls are online than normal, so you assume some made it to her island.

**tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering grimAuxiliatrix [GA]**

**TT: **Hello, Kanaya.

**GA: **Greetings Rose

**TT: **How are you doing?

**GA: **Im Doing Fair

**GA: **Forgive Me For Asking But Is It Customary For Humans To Always Ask Each Other How They Are Doing

**GA: **Karkat Has Inquired Me About This Before

**GA: **You Do This Well-Nigh Every Interlocution We Have

**TT: **Well, yes. On Earth humans would normally exchange pleasantries such as "how are you?" before talking. It was considered polite. Now it's nothing but an old habit.

**GA: **Oh I Apologize

**GA: **In That Case I Will Join Your Force Of Habit

**GA: **How Are You

**TT: **You don't need to ask, Kanaya. Like I said, it's nothing but a habit. I'm doing fine, but I can't stop fretting about what happens when we in fact get to Jade's island.

**GA: **What Do You Mean

**TT: **I mean, what are we going to do with ourselves when we arrive? Surely there will be no point to exist, there are no zombies left to fight, there is no goal to achieve, no reward to reap.

**TT: **I guess I've become a slave to routine, I was so used to having everything I needed to do laid out in front of me, practically on a silver platter, because of the game.

**GA: **For One Thing We May Catch Up With Our Friends

**GA: **When There We Wont Have To Worry About Anything We Will Have Plenty Of Time To Do Whatever The Occasion Should Present

**GA: **We Could Explore All Of Jades Island Start A Civilization And Attempt To Save The World

**GA: **ThoughI Have Been Pondering A Potential Grave Theory

**GA: **If Youve Got Time May I Discuss It With You

**TT: **Go right ahead.

**GA: **What If The Game Has Not Ended

**TT: **That's certainly a scary thought. But, it's not possible. Why would we be dumped here for no reason? And our god-tier powers are nearly gone, there are no bosses in which to fight.

**GA: **Consider It Carefully

**GA: **What If This World Is Just Another Level In The Game Designed To Make It Seem Like We Escaped It

**GA: **Think About It Your Powers Were Diminished But Not Destroyed Completely

**GA: **This Could Be A Test Administered By The Forces That Orchestrate The Game

**GA: **Why Would They Leave Your Powers And Why Would They Leave Our Grist And Machines

**GA: **There Would Be No Point If Not To Give Us A Trial

**GA: **Do You Find This As Odd As I Do

**TT: **You have some very good points. But, if we were just in the game, then how is Earth still here? It should have been destroyed by meteors when the game initially started.

**GA: **I Dont Believe This Is The Alpha Timeline Earth

**GA: **I Believe This Is An Alternate Timeline

**GA: **A Doomed One If You Will

**GA: **But Since We Are From The Original Session When Were Dumped Here Either Intentionally Or Not This Doomed Line Became The Alpha The Game Was Rewritten To Accommodate Players Who Have The Chance To Succeed

**GA: **If This Was A Truly Doomed Timeline Then Wouldnt We Have Seen Our Dead Selves Or Pitiful Survivors

**GA: **Another Possibility Is That The Earth Was Resurrected In Order To Properly Present The Challenge

**TT: **This is a perplexing theory. I can't think of any reason as to why it couldn't be real. Maybe I should consult with Sollux later? He is the one who designed the Alternian version of the game in the first place.

**TT: **My only question is, if, say we ARE in the game, and we ARE still fighting to survive, then what is our objective?

**GA: **To Return To Our Original Session And Finish What We Started

**TT: **Excellent, and for the second time today I find that would be a great movie plot.

**TT: **Remind me to scold John and Dave when they get online.

**GA: **In Any Respect Thank You For Taking My Theory Into Consideration

**GA: **But I Must Be Leaving

**GA: **I Must Convalesce From A Previous Attack

**TT: **Oh my, of course. Are you badly injured?

**GA: **Not Gravely I Will Recuperate Very Swiftly

**GA: **Valedictions Rose.

**TT: **Adieu, Kanaya.

**grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased trolling tentacleTherapist [TT]**

Kanaya had such an intriguing theory, you must tell your friends, but at a different time. Now all you want to do is talk to Jade, and then take a rest for the night.

**tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG]**

**TT: **Hello Jade.

**GG: **hiii rose! :)

**GG: **whats up?

**TT: **Not much of importance, other than attempting to feed the other survivors.

**GG: **other survivors?

**GG: **you found other humans?

**TT: **Yes, only about 2 days ago. I haven't informed everyone about them yet, as I've been busy tending to them.

**GG: **sheesh, you make it sound like theyre kids

**GG: **i cant imagine what it would be like to get to meet other survivors

**GG: **the trolls are nice company, but theyre. . .weird

**GG: **not in a bad way! were just very different in terms of everything

**TT: **The survivors are children, for the most part. There are 3 kids, and one middle aged man.

**TT: **The trolls arrived at your island already? Which ones are there?

**GG: **oh wow they are? Hehe that must be a handful!

**GG: **yep! let's see, nepeta, gamzee, and eridan

**TT: **Has Gamzee or Eridan given you trouble?

**GG: **no not at all

**GG: **so far they've been really nice

**GG:** well kinda

**GG: **gamzee is acting really weird

**GG: **and i feel sorry for eridan! :(

**TT:** What caused the sudden change in empathy? And, excuse all of my questions, but what do you mean by Gamzee was acting weird?

**GG:** he seems kind of lonely and sad here

**GG:** i dont think he gets along very well with nepeta and gamzee

**GG:** and i cant really explain what happened to gamzee

**GG:** he just seems really sullen and kind of. . .pissed off? that feels like an understatement

**GG:** but nepeta took him back to their room and im going to make him some of the green slime stuff soon

**GG: **until my powers recharge all the way

**TT:** He was the one who snapped, if you remember correctly. He was probably suffering from withdrawal of that substance. Karkat informed me on the meteor, make sure to be cautious around him

**TT:** Eridan never really got along with anyone, I suspect he's had a hard time readjusting to the "living" world.

**GG:** i dont think i need to worry about gamzee since nepeta has him pacified almost all the time

**GG:** and eridan just needs some time to open to everyone! ill try and get him to talk to us at dinner :)

**TT:** I wish you luck with that then. I hope the trolls are good company otherwise.

**GG:** they are great company if you overlook some things :D

**GG:** they still need some time to adjust

**GG:** i think after a few weeks theyll love earth

**GG:** if only they could have seen the earth before this all happened. . .

**GG:** but im sure its still better than Alternia! tavros told me that trolls on Alternia used to cull each other just because of their blood colour isnt that awful?

**TT:** It is macabre, but I didn't expect any different from the trolls. They're just a naturally brutal race, culling in their culture is the norm. Earth is simply reinforcing some of their natural instincts, one of which is murder.

**TT:** To them, killing the undead may be similar to squashing a fly, or an ant.

**GG:** ergh! but thats just so terrible

**GG:** it doesnt matter now though, i fully believe that they wont cause any trouble

**GG:** besides karkat told me recently that hes getting closer to my island :)

**TT:** I understand you may feel safe around them, but keep in mind what they did in the Veil. I'm just giving you a friendly reminder.

**TT:** How far away is Karkat from your island?

**GG: **hes only around 100-200 miles away

**GG:** and okkaaaayyy ill remember your advice! :\

**TT:** Thank you for your consideration.

**TT: **That's still quite far, but I'm glad Karkat is still one of the closest. He's one of the few passive trolls.

**GG:** hehehe, i wouldnt describe him as passive

**TT:** Brazen, sordid, and ornery would be better.

**TT:** But also astute, perspicacious, and audacious.

**GG:** he is definitely all of those things hahaha :D

**GG:** oh, i have to go! eridan and gamzee are arguing with each other

**GG:** again

**TT: **Again?

**GG: **yes, again :\

**GG: **the two dont get along very well, but i think its just because eridan can be really bigoted

**TT: **I believe he's had a rough time fitting in when he was removed from the dream bubbles. He's definitely got some underlying hostility towards several of the trolls.

**GG: **i noticed that too!

**GG:** eridan is different from the other trolls, hes more withdrawn and stuff

**GG: **but anyway, i gotta go make sure they dont hurt each other!

**GG: **seeya rose! :D 3

**TT:** Goodbye, Jade.

**gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]**

You shut your laptop for the night, and captchalogue it for the day after. Flynn is yawning widely, and Rudy is complaining to Maxwell about a scary noise she heard. Obviously it's time for everyone to get some sleep. Florence isn't as tired as the others, she isn't much younger than you anyway. But being full rested right now is as important as owning a weapon. You lead Flynn over to the flower section of the store, where they used to sell bouquets. You've been trying not to let the flowers wilt too much, but it's rough taking care of so many. You wonder how they did it.

Rudy and Florence follow behind, and they lay down on the ground. They salvaged blankets from the house they lived in, ratty and worn thin now. You're lucky the store hasn't gotten too cold. Maxwell simply lies down on the ground, straight as a board, and is asleep within minutes. Flynn curls up into a ball, the blanket covering his entire body. Rudy lies down too, but she never falls asleep easily, the same with Florence.

You join them on the hard tile floor. You stare at the ceiling until the light in the room becomes so dark you cant see your hands in front of your face. You hate darkness, it reminds you of the horrible agony in being grimdark. You still remember what it was like going grimdark, the unearthly noises and the sepulchral atmosphere. You take a long time to fall asleep, not knowing the time when you eventually do slip under.

* * *

><p><strong>- Shadowcyrse - He didn't off them because Nevvy was busy eating Warren, you know how there are different reaction times to the virus in Left 4 Dead, someone on skype suggested Nevvy be the type to turn in a few minutes. Warren would take a day or two to become a zombie. Had they been going after Sollux and trying to eat then he would have killed them. Actually both games are available for the Mac! I just have to save up some money to get them. Thanks for the review!<strong>

**- Featherain - Thank you! Hehe that would have been cute, but again we haven't seen much of the Alpha kids, and I'm not as fond of them as I am the Beta kids, I'm afraid I'll destroy their personalities. **

**- Taurus - Thanks! I'm real sorry, but I just can't write for characters based on whim! I'll try to include Tavros more often, because you are right that the majority of fanfiction for Tavros is PBJ, but some of those stories are very well written! And Hussie hasn't canonically declared Tavros' feelings on Gamzee, it is canon that Tavros had some sort of flush crush on Jade but no one is sure how he feels romantically towards Gamzee. Oh, and I try to update once every week usually on Sunday.**

**- Kyroma - Thank you! Nah I'm pretty terrible to my characters, I mean I'm the one who had them killed off in the first place. Dave was really fun to write for, I tried to hold off on the irony but most of his actions are done for 'irony' even if that's just what he tells himself.**

**- Fiesta en mis Pantalones O - Yeah I bet after typing in a quirk that long you get used to it! I'm used to Gamzee and Tavros' quirk because on other sites i TEND TO TYPE LIKE botH oF THEM COMBINED? Oh my god this is a very good song. Can you link me some others songs through fan mail?**

**- Hawkky - Thanks! I don't think I'm /bad/ at writing, I could just improve. Great! My deviantART is GiroGal101, send me the link through notes when you're finished and I could maybe help you if there's anything to improve! You're welcome UvU**

**- maid of void - Yeah I guess haha? Yep! There are the kids+doctor in this chapter, and there might be one who meets Terezi but I haven't decided. Thank you! I actually forgot Dave's initials were 'TG' and wrote them as 'TT', I had to go back and re-write every line, so there's bound to be a mistake or two. And also, I'm not sure how serious you were with that last line but cutting yourself is NOT an acceptable thing to do, if you're depressed or suicidal I have hot-lines you can call if you need them, please contact a guardian, therapist, or counselor and get help. But I am glad this simple story helps cheer you up.**

**- Corian - Thank you!**


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N: I apologize for the wait, I was very busy with exams, but now I've graduated and summer has started! Short chapter, but I've had a terrible writer's block and had to force myself to write this chapter. But for those who wanted to see Equius, and for those who wanted more OC's, here you go! Please note, this is the last human that will be in the story. After that, there won't be any more OC's. Good news for people who only want the canon characters!**

**I don't have much to say about this chapter, other than it took awhile to write and I need to get some motivation. I hopefully got Equius in character, he's not a character I write for often (more like ever) but I tried!**

**Please review if you enjoyed the story!**

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><p><strong>== Be the troll who picked the fight<strong>

You are now Eridan Ampora. Stupid fuckin' landwellers don't know their place. The human Jade managed to get you to back off, but only because Gamzee was so OBVIOUSLY rude that you had to be the better man and back down. You said you deserved the last snoutbeast strip, and Gamzee protested that you'd already eaten more than half. You rightly deserved that strip, as your blood is higher than his, it's entitled to you. Still the fool protested, and you went off about how you deserve it. Eventually the petty disagreement turned into a full blown argument and Jade told you to both shut up, and promptly ate the last piece.

You're now sulking in your sorry excuse for a room, and with the permission of Jade you've been trying to renovate it to look like your old room. She said she didn't mind since you'd probably be spending the rest of your miserable sweeps there anyway. So far all you've managed to do was collect all the history books in her house, move your favourite rifles and weapons in there, and hang large purple curtains to block out the sun.

Your thoughts are interrupted by your laptop going off. You leave it on all the time, constantly charging it. Jade's grandfather is trying to convert it to solar power, but for now you just keep it plugged in 24/7. You sit down and click on the trollian icon, and you're surprised to see the familiar tyrian purple text appearing on your screen.

**cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]**

**CC: **)(ey -Eridan! 38)

**CC: **Are you t)(ere?

**CA: **yeah im here

**CA: **howw are you doin fef

**CC:** Finny, I was just about to ask t)(e same of you!

**CC:** I'm doing fin gilly, what aboat you?

**CC: **I )(eard you got to Jade's island first, is t)(at true?

**CA: **a course i got to the island first i was the closest fuckin one to the shore

**CC: **U)(-O)( is salmon in a bad mood?

**CC: **W)(hat's wrong?

**CA: **its somethin stupid

**CA: **i just got in an argument and im eeling kinda lonesome on this island

**CA: **gam and nep ignore me and wwhen they do talk to me i alwways end up fightin

**CA: **youre goin to be here soon right

**CA: **i dont think i can stand much longer being here wwith only a human and twwo other trolls wwho clearly wwant no part in talkin to me

**CC:** Oh no! -Eridan I'm saury to )(ear that! 38(

**CC:** I'm reely trying to get to t)(e island, skiff I could get t)(ere schnooner I would, trust me.

**CC:** W)(y naut talk to Jade, you'd like talking to her moar t)(an you t)(ink!

**CA:** wwhy would i waste my time talking to some goony landwwelin nerd

**CC:** But Jade is super nice! Give )(er a chance would you?

**CC**: And w)(y don't you try and talk to Gamzee and Nepeta directly, not just wait for them to talk to you! Or maybe you s)(ould apologize to Nepeta.

**CA:** all right all right ill glubbin talk to jade

**CA:** and wwhat do i havve to apologize for

**CC: **You know. . .

**CA: **i knoww wwhat

**CC:** Oh my cod -Eridan you are full of abalone!

**CC:** You know exactly w)(at I mean! 38(

**CA:** wwhale noww youre making me eel gillty

**CA:** god fef that happened so long ago its pointless apologizin noww

**CA:** you dont need to remind me

**CA:** besides its not my fault they dont talk to me

**CA:** neither a them get along wwith me in the first place

**CA:** jade is ok i guess

**CA:** ill try talkin to her like you said

**CC:** Good buoy

**CC:** I'm glad you turning a new wave! 38D

**CA: **thanks fef

**CA: **and i almost frigate to ask howw youre feelin

**CA: **are you shore youre doin fin

**CC:** Whale I am a little worried about my food situation, but t)(ere will be plenty once I swim somewhere with moar stoars.

**CA: **all right im glad youre okay

**CA:** i still care about you

**CC:** Awww -Eridan I care about you too! But you need to woarry aboat yourkelp moar often! I bait you won't message anyone unless t)(ey message you first.

**CC:** You need to stop acting like a clam and open t)(is s)(ell you've created to block ot)(ers out!

**CC:** No one else has reefceded into their own world like you have. 38(

**CA: **wwell i do havve my reasons

**CA:** no one but you has forgivven me for wwhat ivve done

**CA:** evven i dont think i deservve forgivveness

**CA:** i mean reelly fef do you think the rest of us wwill evver look at me the same wway

**CA:** i had a great moirailligence wwith you and a steady blackrom wwith vvris

**CA:** noww i ruined both and any other potential relationships

**CA:** wwhich i guess isnt vvery important givven our situation but noww that theres nothin to do on this damn island i spend a lot a time reflectin and shit

**CA:** and noww ivve gone and fuckin ranted to you again

**CC: **38(

**CC: **Stop being so )(ard on yourkelp, t)(ey just need. . .some time! Give it some time and w)(en everyone gets to the island we'll all )(ave a nice party, and everyone can apologize to eac)(ot)(er for the terrible t)(ings t)(ey did! I don't t)(ink t)(ere was ONE troll w)(o didn't do somet)(ing t)(ey need to say t)(ey're saury foar.

**CA:** i doubt theyll do that fef

**CA:** i knoww youre tryin to be optimistic and kelp evveryone but its not as simple as you think

**CA:** evven if i or any of us apologizes its not just oh hey im sorry i krilled you are we cool

**CA: **and then magically they forgivve you and evverythin wworks out fine

**CA:** some of us did some terrible things

**CA:** not all of us havve somethin to apologize for

**CA:** you say evveryone has done somethin terrible but thats a filthy lie

**CA:** i wwish it could be that simple

**CC:** Okay, I give up. You're doing t)(e same exact t)(ing you did sweeps ago, completely ignoring my advice! I can't bereef you'd do t)(is again.

**CA:** im not ignorin your advvice im sayin it wwont help

**CA: **not that i dont appreciate wwhat youre tryin to do and evverything

**CA:** it wwont wwork

**CC:** You don't know t)(at!

**CA:** im pretty shore i do

**CC: **No you don't!

**CA:** yes i do

**CC: **Oh my cod you are so stubborn!

**CA:** youre actin stubborn too

**CC: **W)(ale fine, I won't bot)(er you anymore! 38(

**CA:** wwait no

**CA:** youre putting me in an awwkwward position here fef

**CA:** i dont agree wwith you but if i say i do then id be lyin an im not goin to lie to you

**CA: **wwhy dont you go talk to sol it looks like hes online

**CA:** hed probably listen better

**CC: **I was being optimistic! I don't care if you agree wit)( me or not, I want you to look forward to seaing all of our friends!

**CA**: i didnt say i wwasnt lookin forwward to seaing all a our friends

**CA:** im sayin it aint goin to be as happy and simple as youre makin it out to be

**CA:** youre bein optimistic im being realistic

**CC:** Maybe I will talk to Sollux, )(e's not always )(appy but )(e'd be a lot more optimistic t)(an you rig)(t now!

**CA:** fine

**CA: **do that then

**CC: **I will! Goodbye, -–Eridan!

**cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]**

And yet another emotionally exhausting conversation. That could have gone much better, and now you're feeling the bitter after effects of it. You still might have some feelings for Feferi deep down, even after a sweep of pushing them down. But her views on certain situations are far from being similar to yours. Especially in this case. You aren't perturbed by her optimism, it's her rash assumptions that get to you. You hadn't been trying to ignore her, or her advice at all.

But now she was angry at you, and there wasn't a way to repair the damage. Plus, that prick Sollux would get the chance to comfort her and you'd be completely swept under the metaphorical rug once again. You're now determined to apologize when you work up the nerve, even though you don't think you have much to say you're sorry for. She was probably simply stressed and feeling alone. Now you're falling into guilt and wallowing in self-loathing again; this time you don't have anyone to pick up your pieces and glue you back together.

You lean back in your chair, and close the log, not wanting to see it ever again. You get up, considering what she said. Talking Jade didn't seem like a bad idea, she was patient and nice most of the time. You look around your respiteblock, the one she willingly gave to you. You decide it would be a nice gesture to talk to Jade, maybe at the very least ask her to look for your lusus again. You reach for the door, gold rings matching the doorknob.

**== Be the last troll**

You are now Equius Zahhak. You have been ignored for far too long, but you are confused as to why you're thinking that. No one has ignored you so far.

**== Take a look at your surroundings**

You look around your temporary 'hive'. You are in an old human library. It was a Victorian styled play house, revamped to be a holder for old dusty books. None of them are in anyway new, and you assume that the humans who went here to check out books either loved old-fashioned things, or needed references for research papers. The place has two floors, the upstairs wing which was connected to the floor by two huge staircases. Because the foundation of the second floor was not supported by the two staircases, and did not make a complete floor, you easily smashed the staircases out. This created a zombie free environment, and whenever you want to go somewhere you simply open a window and jump down. This would hurt a normal troll, but your strong muscles protect your bones from the impact, preventing fractures, or complete breaks.

You also have noticed one human comes to visit the library occasionally. You were surprised to see a survivor, much less one who still read in their spare time. You haven't made contact with her, deciding your appearance would be startling to someone who is probably already very suspicious of things that look different.

You hear the familiar noise of the door creaking open, and you hide behind a book case instinctively. You peer around the corner, clutching a pistol you'd taken from a corpse. You have to be cautious when you use it though, the metal is iron and easily bendable. You see the human again, but she looks terrified, sprinting behind a book case and reloading a gun. You notice a banging noise, the wooden doors are shaking; you can see fingers at the bottom of the door curling up, trying to open it. You realize she's attracted zombies, and fled to the library to fight them off. You think that a library isn't the best place, there are many places to hide but it's easy to get cornered.

The doors open, and a crowd of zombies pour in. She frantically climbs up one of the shelves, and begins firing. Zombies drop, but she can only hit about 6 at a time. Curious, you walk forward to the edge of the floor, knowing she'll be too distracted. The zombies are running, some of them making laughing noises at the meat so close. The circle the shelf, hands reached upward shaking and reaching for her. She leaps, jumping to the next shelf and fires again. She's looking nervous now, clicking the trigger but nothing is being fired. She grabs a pack slung around her shoulder, and opens a box of bullets. There's nothing in it, and she throws it at the zombies in frustration.

She slumps down on the shelf, and looks at the undead in despair. You are now intrigued, someone who was strong enough to survive this long had given up so easily. You decide she won't last much longer, and load your pistol. Better to startle her than let her die. You carefully pull the trigger, another half dozen zombies drop. Her head snaps up, first at the zombies piling up, then at you. Her eyes widen, mouth agape in shock. You jump down, the ground cracking at your feet, and face the rest of the zombies head on. You crack necks, smash skulls, and bones snap. After a few moments of rage, there's no one standing. You slowly look up, the human still on the shelf petrified in fear.

She looks at you in confusion, but after awhile, she steps down, climbing down carefully. You get the first real look at her, she has straight dull brown hair, and it looked like it had been cut short sloppily. She's scrawny and has that gaunt look of hunger in her eyes. She looks to be about 15 or 16 Earth years.

There are some moments of silence, before you speak. "Are you injured?". She doesn't answer, but keeps staring at you. She holds your gaze, even though you're still wearing sunglasses and she can't see your eyes. Eventually you wave your hands in front of her face, trying to get some kind of response. She looks a little dreamy-eyed, and follows your hand.

"Why are you doing that?" She asks simply. You stop waving, and clear your throat.

"You didn't answer my question." You reply tautly. Her demeanor is that of one who's just woken up.

"The answer is obvious. There's no sign of pain in my expression and there's no fresh blood on my clothing. What are you?" She talks slowly, and it gets on your nerves.

"Right. I'm sure after what happened to your race you'll believe me, so to put it bluntly I'm what you call an alien."

"Oh. You don't look very alien. Other than the horns and grey skin. Do you have a name? Do aliens have names? Do all aliens have horns? Why is yours broken? Did the zombies eat it? They look like candy corn, can you eat them?" She begins bombarding you with questions, finally she pauses to take a break.

"My name is Equius Zahhak, and my broken horn is none of your concern. Asking such questions is rude."

"So you're sensitive about it, huh? Don't worry, I won't ask again. Why did you come to Earth? We don't have much to offer."

"I didn't come here of my free will, believe me, if I could I would leave immediately." You say, gritting your teeth. You didn't think one could be so nosy.

She just tilts her head, then looks at the floor above. "I was wondering why the stairs had been knocked out. Have you been hiding up there?" You nod in response. "That's a perfect place to hide, can you take me up there? We could be a team. Two is better than one, and I can repay you for saving me."

You aren't sure you want to spend any more time answering her questions. But she did have a point, and her assistance could be useful to you, she could tell you what human foods are safe to eat, or watch for zombies.

"Fine. But don't ask me any more questions unless it's necessary."

"Okay!" She says enthusiastically. With that, you jump onto one of the shelves, and from there jump to the second floor. She climbs onto one of the shelves, and waits there. You consider how you're going to get her up there. You walk over to one of the windows and rip the navy blue tapestry off, you twirl it into a rope, and hang it down. She grabs onto the end and you easily pull her up. She grins and thanks you for the help.

She pulls out a small blanket from her pack, and settles down on it. You look outside the window, the sky is turning black. You are beginning to get sleepy yourself, but decide to keep watch for a few more hours. There's no telling how many zombies were attracted by the noise of the gun shots.

* * *

><p><strong>- Featherain - Thank you!<strong>

**- Taurus - Ah same, some of the fics I love haven't updated in months. It's not creepy, and I live in Illinois**

**- knightsVoided - I checked, but I didn't mix them up. Thanks!**

**- Hawkky - I'm sorry to hear that! My deviantART is GiroGal101, note me when you've posted it!**

**- Shadowcyrse - I know, fanart is difficult! Believe it or not I don't draw much of my otp, Gamzee is really hard for me to draw! If you finish it, I'd like a link though. Thanks!**

**- sylph of mind - Wow, thanks! I see a lot of that too, usually with fics that have good plot but everyone is terribly OOC. Oh, my school stuff went well! I got some nice grades, but luckily I won't have to worry about grades for awhile.**

**- mage of day 13 - I do actually, 3 or 4 times usually. The problem is I type/read so fast sometimes I miss things.**

**- Kyroma - Yep, sorry! I want to keep things realistic, it'd be surprising in real life if they made it. I looked him up, his last name is Rattmann and his first name is believed to be Doug. They have similar faces, but Max doesn't have a beard or dark brown hair. I haven't played Portal either, but it looks interesting!**

**- anon - Thank you! I actually haven't been shipping anything as much lately, guess I just got tired of shipping something that isn't canon! Making a Skype or Tumblr isn't that hard, if you really want to talk you can make an account in a few minutes! But if not, reviewing is fine too. I'll try not to stop in the middle, I already have the idea for the ending so stopping now would be surprising! And to answer your second review, you reviewed on Chapter 13 before. I am stuck in a rut for no ideas, but I never have writers block for long, no worries! **

**- zoe-3 - I heard about the attack yes, supposedly it was a new type of powerful drug named Bath Salts. I don't think it's anything to be worried about, I haven't heard anything about it recently. Oh, I did update the first chapter. And it's fine, everyone has opinions, but I'm glad you decided to give it another try! **


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N: Guess who's back! I know it's been a very long time since I've updated, and I apologize for that. I fell into a pit of anxiety and found it nearly impossible to bring myself to write anything, and then high school started and I was too busy to write. Now that it's second semester, I have a better idea of how classes work and what will be expected of me, so I'll have time to write. (Or at least I'll try, I may update twice in a week or two and then not write anything for months, if that happens then don't worry!) I'll still continue to be in the Homestuck fandom, probably for a long time.**

**Another reason I wasn't interested in Zombiestuck is because I've been into fantrolls, I haven't really wanted to write or roleplay canon characters for a long time. (Hey if you've got any fantrolls let me know! I love hearing about them, and I'd love to talk about them with anyone) Surprise surprise, I don't ship anything in Homestuck anymore! Of course, I'll still write for ships, and of course Zombiestuck will still have ships galore though.**

**Recently I hooked my phone up to my email, so whenever I get a new review I see it, which has reminded practically everyday that I need to start writing for this again! It took around 2 weeks for me to finally sit around and get to writing, and even now it took about an hour of staring at a blank Google doc before I could even begin the Author's Note. Hopefully now that I'm trying to get back into the swing of things it won't take as long. One thing about Google doc's, I find them much easier to work on, and I'll be posting a link here in the Author's Note to read the story on Google instead. The character's chat will be color-coded, you can chat with other people when I share the link, formatting is much more pleasant on the eyes and easier to read, and the character's quirks can be properly kept. (For example Openoffice autocorrects i to I which means I have to go back and retype every singe I for characters who don't use capitalization and gets rid of and for some reason.) But, if you prefer reading it here anyway, it'll be after this Author's note like always. (I can't post direct links to Google docs, but if you go to my blog satanyo on tumblr and add /tagged/zombiestuck to the URL the link will be there!)**

**I also haven't read my own story in months, so if I accidentally write something that negates a scene in past chapters, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I'll try my best to get to fixing it as soon as possible, or fix it in a new chapter. However, this isn't your chance to be rude. Please let me know in a kind matter, not 'YOU FORGOT ABOUT THIS BLAH BLAH BLAH'! That would be stressful and not persuade me to continue writing u~u.**

**Lastly, I would also like to thank everyone who's given me a review these past months, and to anyone who checks for updates even though the story seems stagnant. I promise it isn't dead yet! I don't know if I'll ever get the time to wrap it up completely, and the chapters will definitely be shorter from now on, but I do have an idea of where the story is going, and if for whatever reason I can't finish it, I will upload a 'chapter' explaining how it was going to end.**

**Now, on with the show!**

* * *

><p>== Be the idiot<p>

Which idiot? There are innumerable idiots you can be.

== Be the idiot covered in steak sauce with 'EAT ME' written on his forehead

Yeah sure, you can be him. You are Dave Strider. And you, quite literally, are covered in steak sauce with the words 'EAT ME' written in big letters on your forehead. You weren't fucking around when you were telling Rose all about your brilliant escape plan.

So far everything is going your way. You found a bottle of delectable spicy sauce and doused yourself in it. You vaguely wonder if zombies even like steak sauce. But this isn't time to second guess your delicious plan. Fuck, you are so fucking hungry. You've never wanted a steak so much in your entire life. Unfortunately, waiting around in your pajamas praying for a plate of warm steak to fall from the heavens won't get you anywhere in life. Not that it would regardless of a zombie apocalypse. At least back before all this happened you could alchemize a steak whenever you damn-pleased.

You apologize to no one in particular for getting off-topic. It's time to get this shit started. Motherfuckers.

You grab two pans, confiscated from the collective bundle of suburban homes riddling this town. Captchaloguing your laptop, you stand up straight, finally obtaining the poise your Bro always wanted you to have. You sling your shitty katana through a belt holding your god tier pants up, and take a deep breath. You walk down the rickety metal mesh stairs of the clock tower down to the bottom. Stepping out into the open, you inhale rapidly.

Your name is Dave Strider, and you're a fucking lunatic.

You're belting off the lyrics to your newest rap, whilst banging two pans together at the same time. Add this to the fact you're sprinting off to the quarry as fast as your little prepubescent legs will carry you, it makes for quite the interesting mental image. Not that there's anyone around to even see it but the undead. But it's the thought that counts.

TG: YO DAVE STRIDER HE WAS JUST 13  
>TG: (no i didnt steal that from danny phantom shut the fuck up)<br>TG: WHEN HE HAD TO START MOWING ZOMBIES DOWN WITH STYLE  
>TG: RUNNING 'CROSS THE TOWN THAT WHOLE EXTRA MILE<br>TG: BUT WHATS THE POINT? THIS WORLD AINT VERSATILE NOR WORTH WHILE THE WHOLE THING IS VILE  
>TG: ROTTEN TO THE ROOT MY VICTORY IS NEVER ABSOLUTE IM SHUDDERING HERE IN MY SKIN CAUSE IM NOT VERY ASTUTE<br>TG: MY DAY AINT GOING WELL IM COVERED IN SAUCE IM DROWNING IN MY OWN STEAKY SMELL  
>TG: AND AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS IM POURING OUT MY SOUL<br>TG: MY SHADES ARE AS BLACK AS COAL BUT IM THE WHITEST RAPPER YOULL EVER MEET MY SKIN IS AS WHITE AS SLEET

You begin to hear it, the groans and moans of the just woken half-living. Sometimes you know how the zombies feel, you like to imagine it's like waking up on a Monday morning when it's cold and rainy outside, and all you want to do is go back to sleep, but you either have to go to school or you're too hungry to stay in bed. What a horrible fate, you can't imagine having to feel that all the time. Being a zombie must suck.

But being you also kind of sucks. Mostly because you can see them now, over your shoulder and past your shades that obscure a lot of details, especially their faces, thank god. Boy are they hungry, luckily there only appears to be one of the zombies from the group that's been chasing you lately, and knowing there's one, there will be more. But you're prepared. You've been planning this for hours. You know exactly what will happen, you've made no mistakes, you're sure.

TG: YEAH DOG I KNOW YOU WANT TO EAT MY SWEET-SAVORY FLESH  
>TG: BUT I HAVENT SHOWERED IN MONTHS I SWEAR I AINT FRESH<br>TG: YOULL TAKE ONE BITE AND HAVE SECOND THOUGHTS THINKING HEY MAN THIS GUY TASTES WICKED NASTY  
>TG: ITS BECAUSE IM GHASTLY TRASHY AND FUCKING MACHO MANLY<br>TG: EVER SEEN A DUDE SO PUMPED WITH MACHISMO?  
>TG: ONLY WAY YOULL SEE SOMEONE MORE MANLY THAN ME IF THEY USE SOME SORTA GISMO AIGHT<br>TG: NOW FOLLOW ME NERDS DJ. STRIDERS LEADING YOU TO A PLACE THATLL ROCK YOUR FUCKING SOCKS OFF  
>TG: (and if im lucky along with your heads and other body parts)<br>TG: WERE ALMOST THERE NOW UNDEAD SACKS OF MEAT  
>TG: fuck rhyming ill see you in hell bitches<p>

And with that you skid to a stop, now in front of the huge quarry. It's emptied out, and reminds you of a gaping mouth. You hope it's hungry, for rotting cadavers. You look over your shoulder, and sure enough, the group of zombies that's been chasing you is scrambling over each other, eager to rip your throat out and convert you into one of them. There are a few other 'normal' zombies following behind them, but they are not your concern.

Before they can chase after you, you rip your god tier shirt off, throwing it down the quarry, and then dive behind a tree, once out of view you start climbing up it to see what happens.

The zombies look around confused and dazed. Then they pick up the scent of the shirt you threw down there, and scramble after it. You lower your shades, for but a moment, hoping to see their gruesome demises in HD strider vision.

Once all of them are bunched together, surrounding the shirt and poking it, making fascinated grunting noises and shrill surprised shrieks, you shimmy down the tree. It's now or never you think to yourself, slipping your katana out of your belt loop. You make your way over to a clump of boulders situated at the edge and grip the katana tighter, curling your fingers over it until your nails dig into your palms painfully.

You swing back, arching the sword behind you in a stance reminiscent of dramatic movie heros. You lean forward, putting all your force into this single move, the katana connects with the largest boulder in a deafening clanging sound, and you feel the rush of adrenaline. The boulder cracks and moves, and your beloved weary sword shatters in it's final moment. And then the rumbling starts. The largest boulder rolls down the hill, pushing all the ones around it down with it.

The zombies can only awkwardly gape at them and get crushed. They release cries of pure anguish before going silent. Cries that sound eerily human. Very, eerily, human.

You shudder and drop the handle of your sword.

Your name is Dave Strider and you are outta that hellhole.

* * *

><p><strong>- Guest (Shimer) - Thank you! I do have a lot of ideas, but sadly little motivation to plot them and write them out.<strong>  
><strong>- HungerGamesGirl27 - Haha cute reaction! It's alright, laziness happens to everyone. Thanks!<strong>  
><strong>- Babygurl4eva - Thanks!<strong>  
><strong>- Anonymous - Thank you! There are a lot more Illinousstucks than one would think, I've met a bunch.<strong>  
><strong>- KarTezzy - Will do, and thanks!<strong>  
><strong>- vriskat - I finished one for Aradia a long time ago, I can upload it to a Google Doc and post it on tumblr if you're still interested! I don't have the time currently to make one for anyone else, but if you look at .com there should be a bunch. Thank you!<strong>  
><strong>- ascendingDeath - Thank you! UvU<strong>  
><strong>- Karlah Lehlah - Haha no worries, lots of my reviewers use typing quirks. Thank you!<strong>  
><strong>- ElfenBloodMage - Thank you! I have the money for it, but I'm saving up for Photoshop first.<strong>  
><strong>- G3k0771 - I'm sorry, I've been too busy and exhausted lately to write! I'm trying my best to continue it though.<strong>  
><strong>- FiEsTa MiS pAnTaLoNeS - Done! uvu<strong>  
><strong>- JellyfishWarfare - Here you go!<strong>  
><strong>- ClockworkDrummer - Thank you so much!<strong>  
><strong>- IvyTai - Oh man that'd be so much fun to write, I think I'll do that, thanks for the idea! I'll try to do that more often too. UvUb<strong>  
><strong>- Luxurious Chausie - Thank you! I don't mind at all, but perhaps mentioningor linking to my story would be nice.**  
><strong>- pyro-pisces12 - Thank you! Surprisingly this story isn't the scariest Homestuck fanfic I've read, you should give creepypastas a try if you want to see something scary haha. She does, but considering that though Nepeta uses cat puns and enjoys rping as a cat monster, there's so much more to her personality than the cat girl shtick! They may have squabbled 'off-chapter' in the beginning, but I think all-in-all they would get along. But once again this is fanfiction and just my personal take, Andrew Hussie would be the one to decide how they interact. Sorry, but I gotta keep things realistic and 3 kids realistically wouldn't last forever in a zombie apocalypse! You have an interesting theory, but the doctor doesn't have the virus, sorry! I have considered it, but their goal isn't to repopulate the world, and it would contradict the ending! Thank you for all the reviews!<strong>  
><strong>- OnLy In DrEaMs NoW - Thanks! I've already found the website, but I prefer typing the quirks myself since that website actually tends to make mistakes occasionally.<strong>  
><strong>- Re-re - Thank you! It's not silent yet!<strong>  
><strong>- Guest - Haha, guess so! To be honest I tend to pick who's online at random, Fef happens to come up the most. Thanks!<strong>  
><strong>- Aurora DeLeon - Thank you so much!<strong>  
><strong>- twerkinas - Probably because I've updated the most haha. Thanks!<strong>  
><strong>- InfernalBlueMoon - Thank you! Aw, but consider it from Equius' point of view. He was murdered by the guy, and just wants to protect his moirail, who was killed by Gamzee in the first place. He may not be fair about it, but he does have reasons to want to forbid it.<strong>  
><strong>- doubleKittCatt - Oh my gosh this is quite possibly the cutest review I've ever gotten. I'll sneak some bro-moments in just for you, and thanks!<strong>  
><strong>- KittyNepeta - Thank you!<strong>  
><strong>- C-markara - Thanks!<strong>  
><strong>- peppermint502 - Nah, it was personal issues that kept me from updating. Thank you for the offer, if I need any ideas I'll ask!<strong>  
><strong>- Guest - Hm?<strong>  
><strong>- XxRavenXxMoon - Aw, thanks!<strong>  
><strong>- OrionRedde - Winks there are definitely hunters. Thanks!<strong>  
><strong>- Paris - Oh my god I'm both honored and simultaneously feel bad for you for staying up so late! Thank you!<strong>


	23. Last Author's Note

Hello everyone! I would like to begin my Author's Note with a sad note, and I apologize for that. I'm not sure how many of you have guessed this, but Zombiestuck just is not high on my list of priorities right now. And unfortunately, because of that, I'll have to leave this story unfinished. I really am sincerely sorry, I know the story has some dedicated fans, and the amount of overwhelming support I've gotten over the years of Zombiestuck was amazing. I read every single review I got, took them all into consideration, and I loved chatting with all of you! Zombiestuck was so fun, and great writing practice. I think that I improved a lot with the help of you guys, and all the sheer work I put into it!

I know it's probably frustrating to get another one of those stories that's 'cancelled', with no real ending, and again I'm sorry. But I just finished semester 1 of my sophomore year, and I'll be starting Driver's Ed in February, so I no longer have the time for it anymore. And to be honest, I just don't have the same kind of motivation I had for Zombiestuck. I still love Homestuck, but it's deviated so much from Zombiestuck over the years that it's getting difficult to keep the characters, well, in-character.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who sent me a review, favorited the story, or gave me any kind of feedback. I appreciate it so much! And who knows, maybe when Homestuck has ended and I have more free time I'll pick this project back up, consider it an indefinite hiatus or something. Until then, I hope you all have a great rest of the year and find another story (that hopefully updates faster than I did) to read.


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